Welcome Back to Community General Hospital
by halinar
Summary: *I've put you out of your misery! The last part is UP!!!!* A tall, dark, handsome but not so much a stranger returns to Community General, bringing trouble with him. Doesn't take a lot of guesses
1. New Arrivals

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WELCOME BACK TO COMMUNITY GENERAL HOSPITAL

PART 1

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This is a three-part story. I hope you enjoy it!

Amanda completed her autopsy at one of the Community General Hospital labs and she was just writing it up when the door opened slightly. She didn't hear it at all but carried on writing all the necessary details she needed to do before Mark came back and wanted to know how the woman died. She knew he would be disappointed that the woman's death was in fact accidental and not attempted murder at all. Even Steve had said the possibility of it being murder was not completely true at all. Amanda had to laugh slightly at Mark's enthusiasm at the possibility that this could be a murder. The figure that came through the door slowly advanced on her, carefully tiptoeing across the shiny floor towards Amanda's table to peer over her shoulder.

Amanda raised her eyebrows with amusement. "Hello, Jesse."

"Darn!" the young Doctor retorted as Amanda turned round in her chair to look at him. "How did you know."

"Well, the only people that come in this lab are you, Steve and Mark and since Mark always knocks and Steve is at the police station, the only other possibility is you." Jesse looked downcast and was about to say something when Amanda put her hand up. "And, Jesse, before you ask, I am not going to give you the final result of the autopsy."

Jesse's eyes widened. "Why not?"

"Because Mark told me to come to him first straight afterwards and not you," Amanda replied, unable to keep the smug look off her face as she sighed the report, closed it and gathered up a few of her things to go and see Mark. Jesse followed close behind.

Jesse almost looked hurt. "I am just so not appreciated around here!"

Amanda turned round and patted her young colleague on the cheek lightly. "Of course you are, Jesse. But the fact remains that you are still the baby among us and the older and wiser make the decisions."

Jesse narrowed her eyes. "I am not a 'baby.'

Amanda rolled her eyes. "I rest my case." She turned round and walked off with Jesse still following close behind with a mock hurt expression on his face. They bumped into Mark in the lobby just inside the entrance of the hospital. He was with his son, Steve, obviously talking about the woman that had died, Joan Cowell. Amanda could tell immediately that trying to convince Mark that the woman was not murdered was going to be rather hard. If his Steve couldn't do it then they had a problem. "Mark, I just came back from the lab after doing the report. Steve's right, you know. Joan certainly wasn't murdered. It was just an accidental death with acid. She had soap in her eyes, she couldn't see."

"Besides, there was no tampering with the bottle," Steve continued, giving his father a look.

Mark looked round hopelessly. "I swear you have all ganged up on me," he said, shaking his head.

Steve smiled and patted his father on the arm. "Sorry, dad, but there's definitely no murder here this time." Mark nodded dejectedly.

One of the passing nurses handed Jesse a file on one of the patients. He opened it and skimmed through it, taking a pencil out of his coat pocket and began writing. The rest of them were laughing at Mark's eagerness to start solving another case. Even Jesse was _slightly _disappointed at not being able to. None of them noticed the doors of the hospital opening and someone coming in. he was dressed normally but his features were still the same. Seeing the group, he smiled and walked over to them whilst they were still and one was still writing. "What is this, don't I get a greeting from some old friends?" a familiar Brooklyn accent asked.

They all turned round. "Jack!" Amanda cried full of amazement. She reached over and hugged him and Jack returned it happily. Amanda's face was full of joy and Jack was still smiling, winking at Steve and Mark.

"You know, this could have been the most meaningful loving thing I've ever got out of you Amanda," Jack said, his voice filled with mock passion. Amanda slapped him playfully on the arm. He held her back at arm's length. "Man, you still look beautiful," he told her and she beamed. Jack looked over at the others. "Mark! Steve!"

"Jack," Steve acknowledged and shook his hand, giving him a friendly hug in the process. He did the same to Mark. "What brings you back to LA? I thought you were somewhere in Colorado."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, been there, done that. What is this, can't a guy see his old friends again." He shrugged apologetically. "I know it's kinda been a while and we kinda lost contact but it was harder back there than it was here. I decided to make it up to you by coming to see you again." He marveled at how they all looked after so long. "Man, you all look so different…yet the same." He smiled again and the others laughed with him.

Jesse had been watching the spectacle from the other side of the reception desk. He had stopped writing when he saw the old friend greet his hospital colleagues as well. Jesse could tell that had obviously got along. He didn't know what he felt—happiness? Jealousy? Maybe a little left out. But he shook his head and carried on writing, hoping to get to his patient quickly before anyone had noticed he was gone. His own politeness meant he didn't feel as though he should intrude. Jesse had heard a lot about Jack Stewart, the intern before him. He was their friend—not his.

"But there's something else as well," Jack said, unable to keep the smile of his face and putting his hands into his brown leather jacket. "I passed from Colorado. I'm a fully qualified Doctor of surgery and medicine now." Amanda hugged him with delight again. Steve smiled even more and clapped Jack on the back.

Mark moved forward to shake Jacks' hand. "Congratulations, Jack, that's terrific," he said, the happiness totally evident in the Doctor's voice. "I couldn't be more pleased for you, this is great news."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, I thought you'd be pleased. I owe a lot of it to you, Mark." 

Mark gave him a mock serious stare. "Now you're pushing it." The rest of them laughed again.

"No, I mean it," Jack replied earnestly. "I would never have been able to get through that if there had not been some of the things you taught me, such as in crime. Hey, you still doing that? Do you still do it to the point that you forget your interns?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Could you believe it," he commented and Jack laughed.

Amanda gave both the men and disapproving glance and shook her head. "Mark is brilliant at it all. He does all the crime and he's good to his interns too. I'm sure Jesse would say so." She looked around and motioned for Jesse to come forward. Jesse, who had still been writing, looked up at them in surprise and then came forward. "Jesse, this is Jack Stewart, an old friend before you came here. Jack, this is Jesse Travis, Mark's current intern."

"Nice to meet you," Jesse said.

Jack smiled. "Likewise," he answered, his dark eyes shining mischievously. "So, you're the guy who took my place." Jesse nodded. Jack patted Jesse's shoulder. "Don't worry, you're being influenced by the best Doctor I know. No one in Colorado even beats him." Mark rolled his eyes. "Tell me, Jesse, does Mark still drag you into the same old crime fighting gang?"

Jesse never got the chance to answer—Mark interrupted. "I don't drag Jesse into everything. He does it willingly." Jesse felt even more out of place now. He clutched the clipboard tightly in his hand that his knuckles went white. He thought the pencil in his hand would snap. Jesse just didn't feel right surrounded by his friends when the center of attention was someone he didn't know. They obviously all got along fine but for Jesse it was different. Jesse just smiled shyly and looked down at the ground, praying it would end soon.

"Well," Mark said slowly. "I think this calls for a celebration on your new found Doctor-ship, don't you think? You can't come here and not expect to have a party." Jack just looked down, smiling, shaking his head.

"I think that's a good idea," Amanda replied, nodding. She took hold of Jack's and he smiled with satisfaction. He winked at Steve who fell into a quiet laughter. "And I know just the place to go." Amanda nodded as a matter-of-factly. 

Steve sighed. "You don't expect me to work at Barbecue Bob's tonight!"

Amanda shrugged. "Leave it to the chef's then." At Jack's confused frown, she explained. "Steve, Mark and Jesse own this barbecue joint not far away from here." Jack looked in appreciation from Steve to the quiet and patient Jesse. "I think we can say the partnership has been somewhat—successful. I'm sure if it's a good idea as long as he can persuade Steve?" They all looked at him, waiting for an answer. He shrugged and said, why not.

"Jess, you're coming right?" Steve asked.

Jesse looked as though he was about to drop his clipboard and pencil. All eyes now turned onto him. "Me? Um…well, I don't think so."

"Why not?" 

Jesse started to back away a bit. He smiled even more uncertainly. "Well, he's your friend. I would just feel as though I was getting in the way…seeing as I don't know him that well, it just—well, wouldn't feel right. I think I'll just leave you to get on with it."

Mark shook his head with the others. "Nonsense."

Jesse held up his hands, looking for a hasty exit. He would give anything to get out here right now. "No, honestly, I mean it. You guys go out and have fun. Besides, I have a date with Haley anyway." He looked at Jack. "Nice meeting you." He turned round quickly and walked off round the corridor. The others watched him and Steve, Mark and Amanda traded slightly guilty looks. They suddenly realized their mistake and noticed they had not noticed it in time before they had made Jesse run off.

Jack frowned then smiled. He jerked his thumb in the direction of Jesse. "He always like that?" 

* * * * *

Jack put down his last spare rib and leaned back. "Steve, if I knew you could make such tasty stuff, I would never had complained in the car." He smiled round at the rest of them. "Colorado, I lived on the hospital food they had there, which wasn't that bad compared to CG, but Steve, this tops everything including the five star in Colorado."

Amanda raised her eyebrows. "Who told you Steve made it?" she asked, with a slight teasing edge in her voice. Steve narrowed his eyes playfully at her. "No, honestly, Steve, that was good." They were well into their third hour at Barbecue Bob's and eaten more than they could manage. Jack was very much impressed with the place when he first entered. As the night drew closer, more and more people arrived. Every so often, Steve would disappear to make sure thing were all right. Without the help of Jesse, it was a bit harder to keep things in control. But he managed to free enough time to go and join in the celebrations they were all having.

The unexpected visit of Jack Stewart had definitely surprised them. There seemed to be a slightly lighter mood on all them as they looked forward, throughout today, to tonight. There was just something about Jack which lightened everything. The day seemed better. Jack was different. He definitely had more knowledge and maturity around him but there was still that streetwise, carefree feeling around him. Maybe it was because Mark and Amanda could spend more time with him and take their mind of work, which made one of these days more pleasant.

"Yer, thumbs up, Steve," Jack said. He stretched. "It's a shame your friend, Jesse Travis, couldn't be here."

Mark laughed. "Yes. It is a shame. Jesse's a really good intern—" and smiled at Jack's incredulous face with eyebrows raised—"still as good as you are, of course. Hard working and definitely eager. I think he just felt slightly unnerved at your suddenly appearance."

Jack laughed. "Who wasn't! I would have been too. It's not every a old friend of a friend comes through the mist."

Amanda smiled and put her knife and fork down. She was sitting next to Jack in one of the booths and opposite Mark. "Where is Jesse, anyway?" she asked, half a frown on her face.

"Said he had a date."

Amanda frowned even more, then shrugged, the concern wiped off her face. She carried on eating. "Strange, he was still at the hospital when we left." Mark's concern, though, did not diminish as easily as Amanda's. He was slightly worried about Jesse. He had noticed that he was unusually quiet when Jack arrived and his hasty exit from the reunion group. He did understand that they had not included Jesse as much, due to the excitement and that made Mark feel even worse. The thing was, he had barely seen Jesse all day after that. He began working non-stop. He didn't even see him stopping for a break at lunchtime or when his shift ended.

There didn't seem a minute in the day when Jesse was not doing something. He tended to every patient and ever ER victim. He even hurried off when Mark wanted to talk to him with Amanda and Steve. Mark had discussed this with Steve and Steve had brushed it off, saying Jesse would get over it. Mark hoped so, because if Jesse continued working like that, it was no good for him.

When they finally finished at Barbecue Bob's, near closing time, they went to their cars. Jack said he had a hotel room on the other side of town, as he called over to the other side of the parking lot. As he went up to his car, he noticed with horror that his tires were slashed. He shouted out in frustration at who did this. Just as Amanda was about to come over to see what was wrong, he noticed a sign stuck to the windscreen secured by one of the wipers. He ripped it off and read WATCH YOUR BACK STEWART CAUSE I'M WATCHING YOU. Quickly, he pocketed the note before Amanda could see it. "Oh, man," she said, when she noticed the tires. "How about I take you home in my car?" she asked.

Jack smiled immediately. "Thought you'd never ask."

"Hey, you know what I mean," Amanda said, but still grinning.

Mark nodded. "You lot go off. I still have some papers to collect at the hospital. I'll see you tomorrow, Jack, at the hospital, bright and early."

"Ah, familiar words."

With that, the four of them separated out. Mark said he'd be home later to Steve and went back to the hospital. He had totally forgotten, in the midst of all the excitement to bring the papers with him and he knew they had to be completed by tomorrow lunchtime. He drove to the hospital, parked the car quickly and went inside. He walked past quickly and took a short cut through one of the lounges, which led to his office on the other side of the hospital. He stopped at one of the scenes before him and then raised his eyebrows. What he saw was Jesse Travis sitting in front of a desk. Papers covered the whole of it and the only thing on was a desk lamp. Beside him was a cup of coffee. Jesse was bent low, almost slouching, but obviously awake.

"Jesse?" Mark asked. Jesse jumped and turned round to face Mark. When he saw who it was, he sighed with relief. "You know, reading like that is bad for your eyesight."

Jesse gathered everything up. "Yeah, yeah, I know," he said distractedly as he collected. "I was just…um…finishing off a few things for tomorrow. Reading things through before I got back home."

"Uh-huh," Mark said, standing beside him but not quite believing him. He put a hand on the young doctor's shoulder. "Jesse, are you all right?"

Jesse looked at him with his eyebrows raised and blindly put the papers back into the file. He smiled but it didn't quite reach him. "Come on, Mark, of course I'm all right. What have I to be not all right about?" He drank the remains of the coffee quickly and turned off the desk lamp. "See you tomorrow, Mark." Mark waved a gesture and watched him walk out of the room. Sighing and shaking his head, wondering if Jesse was working over time, he collected his own files, switched off the light and wandered down to his car.

Jesse's car had already gone. Hoping his friend would get a good night's sleep and feel better tomorrow, he started his engine and drove back home. 

* * * * *

Seven o'clock in the morning. Jack Stewart looked up at changed Community General Hospital. He sighed, suddenly wondering why he did leave. At the time, opening up his own clinic in Colorado had seemed like the best idea in the world. He got his license, his degree and qualifications. But he had never quite thought about what he was leaving behind. He left behind some of the best friends he had in the world. He left behind the best teachings he had and the atmosphere of the hospital. If there was one thing he missed the most, it was solving all those cases he did with Mark, Steve and Amanda. He smiled sadly at the memory of it and wondered why he did leave. His life hadn't been half as exciting when he did.

As he was about to walk in, he spotted a familiar figure walking in the opposite direction, looking over a few files to make sure he had everything. "Hey, Jesse Travis right?"

Jesse looked up. "Yeah." He couldn't think of anything to say.

Jack looked up again at the building. "Changed this building now. Probably for the better. Looks nice."

Jesse couldn't help but smiling. "Wasn't nice when it was bombed."

Jack turned to look at him in shock. "Bombed?"

Jesse grinned and put the files under his shoulder. "Why else do you think the hospital changed? You think they got fed up of the old look?" Jesse's smile instantly erased as though he wasn't supposed to smile.

Jack laughed though and clapped Jesse on the shoulder. "You're all right," he said and wandered inside. Jesse took a deep breath and sighed and he went inside the hospital to do his own work He saw Mark and Amanda walk up to meet Jack again and he turned the other way to avoid them quickly. He looked round and sighed with relief this time when he saw Mark hadn't noticed him. He dumped his things in the doctor's lounge where they would hopefully remain untouched. He got to work on his patients hoping that it would allow him to take his mind off Jack. He liked the guy. He was a totally laid back and friendly guy and he could see why he got along with Mark and the rest of the group. There was just something about Jack which made him lose his confidence. He thought that maybe if avoided them then they would forget and carry on like that until Jack left…if he left. Jesse wasn't looking for sympathy or attention. And he knew it. He was still thinking about it whilst he was checking the charts on one of his patients, Mrs. Ross. She seemed to notice something.

"Something wrong?" she asked him, her eyebrows raised. From the outside, Mrs. Ross looked like a perfectly normal middle aged lady. Even though terminally ill, she looked in good health at the moment. She was not nosy but Jesse always seemed to have the feeling that she knew everything not by gossip but by just judging someone's character. She was usually right but this time, Jesse tried to prove she wasn't.

"No, I'm fine," he said, slightly more dejectedly than planned.

Mrs. Ross gave him a dubious glance. In the past six months she had been in hospital and doctored by Jesse Travis, they had begun to know a lot about each other. "Nonsense. There is something wrong with you and you will not admit it. If you carry on going round with that frown but faraway look in yours eyes then people are bound to ask."

Jesse sighed and shut his clipboard. "You're too good. Have you ever…well, felt kind of rejected by people because of someone else?"

Mrs. Ross smiled. "Well, I've had over forty years to think about it but probably along the line, yes. Everyone does. It goes away."

Jesse looked up. "I hope it does." He walked out of the room and bumped into Pete Taylor. It had been at least a month since Jesse's attack. He had been grateful to Pete Taylor and had thanked him almost a thousand times for saving his life. He felt as though he owed Pete but Pete, being too modest, just made him promise never to do anything like that again. Pete looked as though he was in a rush. Breathlessly, he asked Jesse to go and get some papers for him about his resident. Jesse did so and Pete ran off, leaving Jesse at the reception again where he had things to do.

He walked behind the reception desk where Norman was standing, smiling. "Norman," he said, "you didn't move a couple of green sheets of paper with a bunch of scribbles on them, did you?"

"What scribbles?" Norman asked.

Jesse frowned. "_My _scribbles."

Norman smiled at another group of people leaving the hospital. "If I moved anything it would have been into the bin. Honestly, you would have thought this hospital was a bit more organized without having bits of paper strewn all over the desk." Rolling his eyes, Jesse sucked under the desk to retrieve some papers, which Norman claimed he threw into the bin. After a minute of thorough searching, he came up with a few crumpled pieces of paper but not all of what he wanted. Above him, he could hear Norman saying, "Goodbye Mr. Jenkins, hope you had a nice day," or "welcome to Community General Hospital."

Jesse tugged on his pant leg. "Hey, did you throw them all out?"

"I'm sure, Dr Travis, that they are somewhere there so please—Oh my! Dr Stewart, is that really you?" Jesse groaned inwardly at the mention of that name. Norman sounded as though he was over the moon about it and rounded the desk. "Boy, this is great to see you again! You don't know how pleased I am."

Jack laughed. "Yeah, it's great to see you too, Norman. Hey, you look practically the same since the last time I saw you."

Jesse could almost imagine Norman's hurt expression. "Can't you see? I lost a few pounds after that training exercise I went on."

Mark laughed. "Oh which you only stayed for one out of the four weeks."

"That's not funny, Mark." Jesse found himself smiling as well. "Anyway, Jack, Stewart, you didn't come here because of financial problems, did you?" Norman suddenly sounded worried at the thought.

Jack laughed. "Don't worry about your account, Norman, I haven't come to take anything out of it. I've just come to see you all. I left my clinic for a few days to come and see you lot again. I was thinking that after a few years it was a bit unfair that I hadn't come down to see any of you." Norman let out an audible sigh of relief, which no one took too seriously.

Jesse, having enough of listening to it all, jumped up and dusted himself down quickly. Mark looked at him strangely. "Jesse, what are you doing on the floor?" He could feel them looking at him.

"Just…clearing out the trash." Quickly he picked up his pieces of paper and spread them out over the edge of reception to straighten them. He tried to not let any of the events bother him. But something made him stay there and listen. He thought that at any moment he was going to explode with anger or something like that. Just the presence of Jack Stewart made him mad. It was just as they were about to go that Jesse remembered something. "Um…Mark, Pete wanted me to say that he was going to need you at half past three to…"

Mark held up his hand. "I gotta take Jack to the new rooms. He's going to be so thrilled about this. I'm sure Pete could wait slightly longer." With that, he walked off with Jack, happily chatting. Norman didn't seem to notice anything but remained with a smile on his face. Jesse turned away and shook his head. "Fine, I'll tell that _after _the man has died." He walked off.

Jack Stewart looked behind him to see Jesse Travis walk away. "Hey, what if that was something important he was tryin' to tell you?"

"Oh, I'm sure it could wait. Besides, you're our guest at the hospital."

Jack looked behind him again. "Yeah, but Jesse was trying to tell you…"

Mark stopped dead and put a palm to his forehead. "Oh, I've done it again." He turned round. "Jess..." he started to say but the young intern was nowhere in sight now. He disappeared round the corner. 

"Done what again, dad?" Mark and Jack turned back round to see Amanda and Steve walking towards them. Amanda deposited her bloodied gloves in a nearby specialist contained and caught up with Steve. She looked inquiringly at Steve's question.

Mark put his hands in his pockets and looked guilty. "I've left Jesse out again," he sighed. "He came to inform me about something and I completely blew him off." He felt like kicking the wall beside him.

"Don't worry, Mark, I'm sure he'll come around," Amanda said. "I'll go talk to him."

Jack shook his head. "Nah, don't bother. Let _me _talk to him." The rest of them watched as Jack made his way to where they last saw Jesse. They could understand why Jesse was feeling slightly left out. Jesse didn't know Jack as well as they did and the surprise of him turning up after all these years made them want to make the best of it while he was still here. They just hadn't realized how that would make Jesse feel.

Jack followed the corridors, hoping to find Jesse in one of the ER rooms, or maybe the doctor's lounge, even the sleeping room that he was very familiar with. The whole layout of the hospital hadn't changed but he still didn't know where to look. After asking a few people, he finally found out from another doctor. "Oh, you mean Jesse Travis? Yeah, he was here a few minutes ago. Went out the back door that led to the car park." Thanking him, Jack ran towards the back door and almost tripped at the figure. On the steps leading down to the car park was a figure dressed in a white gown and light blue trousers, staring silently into space. Jack stopped and looked at the young intern. For the next few seconds, he didn't move apart from take a few breaths. "Hey, Jesse."

Jesse jumped almost three feet in the air and spun round to face him. "Jack…I…you scared the hell out of me." He turned back round and ran a hand through his blonde hair. "How long have you been standing there?"

Jack shrugged. "Long enough."

"Long enough to what?"

Jack sat down beside him. "Long enough to know that me coming here ain't been too good for you." Jesse turned his head sideways to frown at him. Jack laughed. "And don't bother saying that I don't, 'cause I know when it does. I've been a doctor long enough. You're a bit hyped up because I'm the old friend that has come back and now you're friends are totally rejecting you."

Jesse looked away. "Nah. It's not that."

Jack gave him a dubious glance. "Oh really? Then you tell me?"

Jesse couldn't believe he was having this conversation with Jack. To Jesse it was almost embarrassing. Did he really look that obvious that they sent _Jack _out to talk to him? But Jack had a very good way of talking; he admired him for that much. Jesse was now in a tricky situation. "Okay, I'm slightly 'rejected' but that's besides the point and I doubt you'll want to hear it anyway." He laugher bitterly. "In fact, thinking about it now, I feel almost stupid."

"Hey, anyone would act like that," Jack insisted. "Well, if it was me and anyone coming between Amanda." He laughed and Jesse smiled slightly. "But anyway, this is me, coming back after so many years and I'm sorry I've taken up so much of their time when in fact, I'm a total stranger. I didn't even expect to be welcome so much, you know? I thought they would have chucked me out after so much time with no contact." Jack sighed. "I can't stay here anyway. It's too long ago and all in the past. So Amanda is still yours."

Jesse laughed. "You think…" He shook his head. "No, it's not about me and Amanda. It's about me and Mark and Steve." Jack raised an eyebrow at him and Jesse gave him a disapproving look. "It's not what you think." Jesse let out a small moan. "I don't know whether I should tell you."

"Hey, my lips are sealed man. Just 'cause I know them so well, don't mean I'm ready to spill everything."

Jesse suddenly felt so rotten about acting so childishly. He ran a hands through is hair again, a sure sign of agitation. Jack was acting so nice to him and not making him feel guilty in any way but it was just that attitude that did it. He felt as though he'd known Jack for ages and that he could talk to him about anything. Could he really trust Jack with what he wanted to say? Amanda knew.

He sighed yet again and put his hands on his knees. "Okay, but don't get too comfortable it's not a happy-beginning or happily-ever-after story."

"Are they ever!" Jack exclaimed.

Jesse thought back. "I didn't exactly have the best home life. My parents divorced when I was still young and I lived with my mom in Minnesota. Only recently I found my dad was a CIA agent and left to protect us but that still didn't help what happened. There's always been a small rift between me and my father and even between me and my mother. That's one of the reasons I became a doctor—to impress them. When that didn't work, I just moved out here to do my internship." Jesse stopped. He didn't want to look at Jack so he stared at the side of a flashy convertible car. "And when I did come here and started working with Mark, I met Amanda and I also met Steve and…"

"And you became jealous?" Jack asked, finishing off the sentence.

Jesse laughed. "Hell, was I jealous? I was a deep green with envy. Yeah. They had the kind of father/son relationship that I'd never had. I don't remember experiencing it once in my life. Both my parents have been down here but it's just not the same. It's not like what Mark and Steve had and it's what I always wanted." Jesse shook his head. "It's no like it's going to happen. I've been excepted into their circle as far as I can go. Strange thing is, Mark is more of a father than my real dad ever was. If I had a choice, I probably would go for Mark."

Jack nodded. "So this is a psychological thing."

Jesse turned to face him. "You're not going to report me so I can get time off to see a psychiatrist over this personal problem, are you?"

Jack held up his hands. "I only have power in Colorado."

Jesse smiled. "Thanks." He started to get up but Jack pulled him down.

"Hey, your life with your family may not have been perfect but they're still your family. You can pick your friends; you can't pick your parents. But if in there is the closest you can get to is a family then that's good for you. Mark's really great guy—all three of them are. You're lucky to be part of that and you shouldn't take it for granted."

Jesse couldn't help feeling better. "I don't."

"Good. And…yeah, I'm sorry for making you feel that way." Jack held out his hand and Jesse took it gladly, feeling that everything between him and Jack was now patched up and better. He could go on without having to turn around and walk away from it all. Maybe telling Jack was a good idea after all.

"Thanks, Jack."

"Hey, no sweat!" Jack turned round and walked back inside leaving Jesse back out on the stairs again. Jesse stared into the empty parking lot outside for a few minutes for getting up. He felt a lot better. But before he could totally get up, someone came up behind him and put a hand over his mouth. The next thing he felt was a blade press against his throat.

"Now then, I really hope he told you where those papers were, because I've come too far to be disappointed."

Jesse paused, wondering what was going on and what the man was talking about. One thing for sure, it wasn't a game and Jack wasn't playing it.

* * * * *

Mark went over to Jack when he returned. The dark haired man was smiling at them as he walked over and there didn't seem to be a worry on his face. Steve and Amanda had waited more patiently for him to come back than Mark, who was still feeling guilty about what he had done to his young intern. "How is he? He didn't run away or something like that did he?"

Jack put his arm around Mark's shoulders. "You worry too much, you know that. He went back to looking after his patients and when he finished, we just straightened things out. Nothing to it. He shouldn't be feeling so down any more so everything's better now: he's gone back to his patients and I think you owe me a look around this hospital?"

Mark nodded and sighed. "Yeah, I think I do."

Several hours later Jack had been shown round the whole hospital with the help of Mark and Amanda. Steve had to leave half way through because of his work but promised to meet up with Jack later after work. Even though Mark sometimes had to do his work as well, Jack was allowed a small amount of time to work, going against Norman's orders of 'it isn't a good idea.' Norman never found out and with Jack as a fully qualified doctor. At the end of it all, Mark asked Jack as a rhetorical question for being so good at his profession, why he ever left Community General in the first place. Jack, not wanting to give the feeling of a guilt trip, made up a joking excuse and left it at that.

But as the whole day grew on, Jack realized how much he had missed it in Community General. Sure, the hospital was different and people who used to work there when he did were gone. Delores was done. Several other pretty nurses' that he remembered had left as well. Maybe for the exact same reasons he did? He didn't know. Thinking back now and how he had done for a long time, he wondered why he'd left. Even though it had changed, things were the same. Mark was still here; Steve was still here; Amanda was still here. Amanda even had a child of her own now, CJ, who he had heard lots about. Heard about how Jesse had delivered him, heard about his antics and was even invited to meet him…and to Jack there was always this feeling that he left behind too much when he moved to Colorado.

As the afternoon drew to a close, Mark whistled as he took his gown off and dumped it into his locker. Jack was with Amanda and he met them by the entrance of the hospital. "Phew, a pile up with a truck can bring a whole lot of bodies," she commented. "Luckily, there were mainly dead chickens and not so many dead people."

Jack shook his head. "How can she say that so lightly?" he asked Mark and he shrugged and shook his head. Wondering what was taking Steve so long, Mark decided they go out the back way of the hospital, thinking that maybe there were too many cars outside for Steve to park. "Is it just me or did the amount of people in this hospital double or something."

"Just you," both Amanda and Mark replied. Jack grinned.

Mark opened the door and scanned the half-empty parking lot. It was just about beginning to get dark but light enough to see. What he saw was a shadow kneeling down on the ground. There seemed to be something else there which he couldn't quite see. Looking carefully, Mark could make out Steve's car.

"Steve?" he shouted into the quietness of the parking lot.

The figure looked up. "Dad that you? I was just about to call you if you didn't show up! I think you should come here." The urgency in Steve's voice for the remaining three rather worried. Quickly, they broke into a jog and came to a rest beside Steve's side, kneeling down. "I don't know what happened. I just found him lying here."

What they saw was Jesse. He was leaning against Steve's car, one hand to his temple where there was a big gash and where a small trickle of blood falling. He tried to wipe it away but winced. He didn't seem to notice that there was anyone with him and his eyes had a kind of incoherent look in him. "Oh no," Amanda said. She took Jesse's chin and lifted his head up to make him look at her. She watched as Jesse traced her finger slowly. "Well, he's got a concussion," she announced.

Mark leaned forward. "Jesse, what happened?" he asked.

Jesse moaned and shook his head. "Was ambushed…I think. After Jack went this guy came up…knife…took me to a car…" He cut wincing as the pain in the back of his head returned.

"Okay, I think we better get him inside," Mark said as they helped Jesse get to his feet and get him inside to ER. They helped him inside and got him into one of the rooms with Norman seeing. Steve followed, eagerly wanting to know what happened. Mark tenderly treated Jesse's wound; the one on his temple and the one on the back of his head. There was one cut on his forehead which wasn't too deep and had stopped bleeding obviously some time ago. By the time he had finished, the strong smell of alcohol and other substances had revived Jesse but he still couldn't walk without keeping his balance.

"Okay, Jess, how long were you out there?" Steve asked his arms folded over his chest as though he was scolding a child.

"Why are you shouting at _me?" _Jesse asking, swinging his legs round to sit on the bed. He shrugged. "I don't know…few minutes, half an hour, an hour! I don't know, I wasn't keeping track of time." It came out a little more spitefully than he intended it too. He rubbed the back of his head again. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"Don't be," Jack said, waving a hand. "I'd be as grouchy."

Jesse suddenly looked up at him as though he recognized something. "Who's Stoke?" he suddenly asked, his eyes narrowing towards the other Doctor. "I was put into a _van_, _beaten _up by a guy called _Stoke _because he claimed I had some _papers, _that you are meant to have about _incrimination. _I knew absolutely nothing about them and got battered in the face because of it." He glared at Jack who was leaning against the wall, his hands inside the pockets of his jeans. Jesse winced again.

"I don't think you should do too much shouting," Amanda warned him.

"_You _come into my place then," Jesse retorted.

All eyes now focused on Jack. He was staring at the ground with a concentrated look in his eyes. It was like he was puzzling over something in his mind. He let in a breath and then let it out again. When he looked up, the first thing he saw was Jesse's penetrating gaze followed by the rest of his friends who was urging him to go on. "All right, I'll tell you."

"I came back here for another reason. I need help. And I need help badly. I thought I could get through this on my own but it seems that I can't." He pushed his hair back and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry I've totally wasted your time. I did want to come back and see you, really I did, that was the part of the idea of coming back here again. But there is a more dangerous side behind it…seems like I just dragged Jesse here into it." Jesse didn't answer. "I'm sorry."

Mark walked up to him. "Whatever reason you came here for, we're glad you did. It doesn't matter why you came but tell us your problem."

Jesse scooted over to give room for Jack to sit down. "Well, I've been doing my hospital/clinic for over four years now and around two years ago, I employed this pathologist, Nigel Stoke. He was very good and every job he did was too perfection. No one really questioned his judgement on anything. Like you Amanda, he worked with the police. A few months back, they had to re-examine the body after new evidence was brought up. Another guy did it because Stoke was ill at home. What they found was that half the organs were missing. The organs of several other bodies were missing. I couldn't believe it but I thought that _maybe _Stoke was doing something illegal. So, I did a little prying around, like you taught me how to do, Mark."

Mark smiled even though he couldn't help it. "And what did you find?"

"I found several files that showed transactions of money for organs successfully being done. Stoke had been selling the body parts of almost every autopsy he'd done from two months since he started working. I was disgusted—it's a sick thing for someone to do but I didn't tell anyone. I took the files as proof to the police but before I could get to show, Stoke realized I took them and started planning a few hits. I ran away here and he obviously followed me."

"So that's why he was asking about files," Jesse said out loud.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, they're back at my house at the moment. Hey, I'm sorry I put you through that, Jesse. He probably saw us talking together and figured you must have been a good friend of mine so he decided to pick on you in finding out where the files are." Jesse nodded appreciating the apology. 

"Outside?" Mark asked crossing his arms. "I thought he was tending a…"

"So I lied!" Jack said, smiling. 

"We still talked," Jesse informed, coming to the rescue. "Heart to heart."

Steve looked at the group. "Well, if this is the case then we'd be glad to help you, you know that, Jack." Jack nodded. "First thing, though, is to make sure that this Stoke guy doesn't get to you. He may target you so I suppose you should come and stay at our house," he said, looking at his dad who nodded. "Just to make sure nothing happens and we can work from there." Jack nodded slowly and then looked at Jesse's forlorn face, that he had not been invited.

"Guys, maybe that's not necessary," Jack protested. "I mean, he doesn't know where I live."

Steve rolled his eyes. "I'm a cop, remember."

"I know, but…"

"No, buts, Jack. You asked for help and we're trying to give you the best." Mark looked at Jack and knew he was laying the guilty trip. Casting and look at the lowered head of Jesse, he nodded silently.

Jesse pushed himself off the bed. "I'm…err…gonna go home." He started to walk out of the door. Once again, he felt slightly uncomfortable and after his outburst, knowing Jack meant no harm. He was tired, his head hurt and after a rather long shift, what he would gladly do would be to fall into bed and not have to think about anything else.

Steve's arm shot out catching Jesse in the chest before he could reach the door. "With your knock on the head do you think it is sensible to drive?"

Jesse narrowed his eyes at Steve, which startled Steve slightly. The young doctor almost looked angry with him. He shoved Steve's arm away. "I can manage, don't worry. Besides, you car might already be full anyway." Touching the side of his head carefully, he began to walk away, taking his white jacket off in the process.

Jack shook his head. "Lack of sleep. Happens to all us doctors, ain't it right?" The others shot him looks but dissolved in laughter. Jack smirked and from outside, Jesse kicked the nearby wall in frustration as the laugh echoed behind him.

* * * * *

_"Welcome to another beautiful morning over California folks. I'm Jeff Hudderson, your host and I'm here to wake you up in these long mornings. So not matter how warm you bed is, these songs will get you up and at 'em for the next few hours. Here's a new track by a band that…"_

It wasn't so much the tracks that woke Jack up the next morning; it was the sound of Jeff Hudderson himself. "That guy still presents the radio?" He mumbled as he fumbled to turn the radio off. Why did Steve have this on in the morning? He shut if off and closed his, savoring the feeling of the warm bed in what was _not _a fine morning. His tousled black hair was only visible above the covers.

The sudden bright light woke him out of his daze. Everything was dark because the curtains were closed. "Hmmmmmm," Jack groaned and a happy laugh sounded through the room.

"Nice under there?" Steve amused voice asked. Jack only nodded. Steve smiled cheekily and walking to the end of the bed, he pulled the covers off suddenly. Jack jumped, startled by the sudden cold. He glared at Steve and then climbed out of bed. "Come on, dad wants to go over a few things with us about this Stoke guy. It's dad's day off so it wouldn't matter that much."

"Good thing your dad works so hard in order to get those days off," Jack muttered as he headed towards the bathroom. "How come I never got any."

"You flirted with all the nurses."

"Doesn't Jesse."

Steve smiled. "Jesse had a full time girlfriend—she was a nurse."

Jack laughed as he closed the door and washed quickly. Then he came downstairs to breakfast. Mark Sloan was already enjoying his day off by making the pancakes and the orange juice and milk was already out of the table. "What is this, a treat?" Jack asked as he sat down.

"Maybe," Mark commented. "I tend to make it on my day off but there seems to be more of a reason now that there's desk."

Jack picked up his knife and fork. "Don't flatter me, I may ask for him. It's a good thing both Sloan's can cook even though one was once awful." He cast a cheeky grin at Steve. "Food back at our Colorado Hospital is bordering on foul and retch-able."

"Well, you won't throw up here," Steve said and then eyed the buttered pancakes. "Maybe a little bit fat." Jack laughed as they all sat down to eat again. They talked for a little while about normal things. Then Mark brought up the subject about Nigel Stoke again. Steve nodded and looked at Jack as he just finished his breakfast. "How much do you really know about this guy?" 

Jack shrugged. "He was a good worker. What more could you ask for? He could do all the pathology work done in less than half an hour and come up with a diagnosis that saved a hell of a lot of trouble. I kind of got a long with him as well even though I didn't see him much. He seemed to get along with everyone. Then some other guy did an autopsy on already diagnosed guy…Richmond Elgar, his name was, and found most of his organs missing. Looking at other bodies the same thing had happened. The police started to get involved and Stoke disappeared with an apparent cold. He hadn't had one since he started work. The police started working too slowly so I did my own delving, like I learnt from you, Mark, and found some files."

"And they show all the selling of the organs," Steve said.

Jack ran into the bedroom and brought the file back. "Here's the list. He'd been doing it for ages right under my nose. No one else noticed either."

"Was this a one man job or was he working for someone?" Steve asked.

"I think he was keeping all the profits," Jack answered. "The money doesn't seem to be going anywhere else. He's collected over $300, 000 with these transactions."

Mark whistled. "That's a hell of a lot."

Jack nodded. "I took the file and then some odd things started happening. It was simple at first. Smashed windows and slashes tires. Then I found traces of drugs in my food and blades underneath my door handle. That's when I got worried. The police weren't doing anything and I knew it was Stoke after me since I never told the police about the files. I ran and I ran here quickly…" He smiled cheekily. "I think I made the right choice."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Let's hope we can keep you alive long enough." He looked through the file again. "There should be enough evidence there to put him away for quite a few years no matter what law the state here or Colorado has. Your testimony and maybe some others back at the hospital will prove useful. First we have to catch him though. He could be running around anywhere in LA looking for you. What does he look like."

"I got a picture of him." Jack showed them a picture of a small balding man in his late forties. He had a pair of thin wired glasses on and his eyes seemed rather small a beetle-like. "Despite his horrible looking face, he was actually quite a nice guy."

"I'll take your word for it," Steve replied slightly unconvinced. "Well, he's out there somewhere. And some_how _we've got to find him. Any smart ideas?" he asked, looking round the group.

The phone suddenly rang and Mark went over to get it. "Mark Sloan…Oh, Jesse, hi, what's wrong, you sound up tight…" Steve and Jack were instantly silent and listened in on the conversation. "All right, what does he look like?" Once again, Steve got curious and stood up. He watched his father's face as it turned into realization and then shock. "O-okay, Jesse, you stay right where you are. Don't go outside and don't open the door, got it?" With the agreement, Mark hung up and looked at his son. "I think Stoke is stalking Jesse because he thinks he's your friend, Jack. He's outside Jesse's apartment in his car. Jesse got a good description of him."

Steve grabbed his jacket as Jack stood up. "Come on, let's go." They hurried to Steve's car and he reversed out, reaching Jesse's apartment in a matter of minutes. There was a car parked outside, a gray one like Jesse said, but there was no one inside it. "Jack, you stay close to me and no heroics, okay?" Jack simply nodded and watched as they entered the apartment where Jesse lived. There seemed to be no one there and no sound came from inside. Steve opened the door. There was no sign of forced entry.

"Jesse!" Steve shouted, wary that someone was wrong. He got his gun out and pointed it into the room. Still, no one replied. "Jess!" Steve cried louder making both Mark and Jack jump.

"What?" someone asked. Jumping out of their skins, they turned round and found Jesse behind them in the doorway. "You don't need to shout."

Steve pulled Jesse in. "I thought I told you to stay inside!" he scolded.

"He was coming up the stairs! I wasn't going to stay here and let him kick the door down with me inside so I made a break for it. I ran out of the back way and down the fire exit stairs." He looked past them. "I don't think he managed to get me, though. I don't know where he is now. I don't think he even went into my apartment."

Steve sighed in frustration. "Then where is he!"

A sudden sound came from within Jesse's apartment. They all turned round towards the back door. From around the corner a figure came round and he stopped dead when he saw them. Jack took a step forward. "Stoke, I'm going to kill you!" he shouted. Stoke didn't appear to hear though. He started running again towards the back door and back down the fire exit. Telling his father to take Jesse and Jack away and make sure Stoke doesn't get to his car, he ran after the man himself down the flight of stairs.

Stoke already had a good head start, Steve could see. He raced down the stairs, though, two at a time in order to catch up with him. By the time he reached the bottom of the metal staircase that ran down the side of the building, though, Stoke was already half way down the street. Steve let out a low hiss and prepared himself for a long run. He had his gun ready. For a forty-year-old man, Stoke was good on his feet. Steve gave himself a burst of energy and followed in a desperate to catch up with the fraudster.

"Man, this is exercise," he said to himself. He knew he was gaining on Stoke. The man was slowing down and running out of energy. He hoped this would be over soon so that Jack wouldn't have to worry and he could spend some time doing what he should be—spending it with his old friends.

Just as Steve was going to raise his gun up and tell him to halt, Stoke turned round. They were only 20 yards apart from each other, which was hardly anything. Stoke held a gun in his hand. It was so small he could barely see it but he could recognize it from this distance. Years as a cop taught him this. He froze and was about to dive out of the way when a shot broke out from Stoke's gun. Steve fired almost instantly.

It echoed throughout the street. A few birds fluttered up from the trees and flew away. There was the sound of running feat into another alley way and a few minutes later, there was many pairs of feat, all coming out of their houses, their cars and gardens to see the fallen figure lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

"Someone call 911!" a man shouted loudly. But the fallen man didn't hear any more as he lapsed into unconsciousness. 


	2. Disaster and Distress

****

WELCOME BACK TO COMMUNITY GENERAL HOSPITAL

PART 2

Mark was so tired he could barely stand up. He had been sitting in his son's room for over three hours whilst he slept in an unconscious state. The bullet had ripped through his right side and exited out of the back. When they found him, they led him straight to surgery. Jesse managed to change quickly and be a part of the surgery, along with Pete. Amanda and Mark waited outside and after several agonizing hours of waiting, Jesse came out with Pete to deliver the news. Steve was in recovery but still in critical condition. Mark was allowed to see him. Pete flopped onto the seat next to Amanda and held her silently.

Jesse couldn't watch the scene. He wandered into the doctor's lounge to get a well-deserved coffee. As he watched it warm up, he sensed someone else in the room. He looked around and spotted Jack sitting in the corner with his hand in his hands, eyes closed and his head towards the floor. The man hadn't even noticed Jesse come in. He walked up to him and sat down. "Jack?" he shook his shoulder and Jack suddenly jumped, unaware at first.

"Oh, Jesse," he said and relaxed. Then as an afterthought, added, "hi."

"How are you feeling?"

Jack shook his head. "I dunno. I'm in…like a daze, you know." Jesse nodded understandingly. "Man, I can't believe this is happening. I only wanted help. I was worried back in Colorado. I had friends, of course, but not like I had here. I couldn't run to the ones back in Colorado. They wouldn't have believed me. My only other option was here. I didn't even know if Mark, Steve or Amanda would accept me back."

Jesse smiled slightly. "You know Mark and Steve could never hold a grudge against you."

"Yeah, that's why I like them so much," Jack answered. "I was so pleased that I finally came that I thought 'why tell them just yet? Stoke was nowhere around.' Then that first night we went to eat at BBQ Bob's I found my tire slashed and a threatening note on my windshield and knew he was still following me. After what happened to you, I confessed everything hoping they still would and hey presto, they were still understanding. I think I have pushed my luck now that Steve's shot."

"That wasn't your fault," Jesse persisted. He wondered why he was trying to make Jack feel better. Maybe it was just in his nature. "How did you know Stoke had a gun and how did you know he was capable of taking a risk using it on a cop and possible killing." Jack didn't look too convinced. "Jack, Steve isn't going to die and Mark didn't say anything about it being tied to you in any way."

Jack shook his head. "That's because he's too worried about Steve. When he's calmed down, he'll finally piece it together. Then he'll kill me." Jack looked at the mischievous smile on Jesse's face. "What's so funny."

"You know what doctors do when they have overactive relatives."

"Well…they sedate them," Jack said as though it was obvious. "Oh!" Then he paused. "Mark will want to find out what happened to Steve and find Stoke."

Jesse nodded. "But it was your case to start with. Now it's your turn to be working on it. Mark should be sitting with Steve anyway, not trying to put himself into danger. Someone else can find Stoke and he'll be found before he does anything else to you."

Jack nodded. "That's 'cause I'm gonna find him." He stood up.

"I didn't quite plan it like that," Jesse said to himself.

Jack turned back round to Jesse. "And you're going to help me. You're right, you know. Mark should be spending his time as a doctor helping Steve. I don't want to put Amanda into any more danger and besides, I kind of owe it to you. Do you wanna help."

Jesse laughed and flopped back lazily on the couch. "Mark's a doctor, so am I but he should stay here. You don't want to get Amanda into danger, but it's all right for me." He laughed even more and Jack couldn't help smiling. "But don't worry, I definitely want to come along for this ride and nothing is going to stop me. No way. I want to find him for beating me in the back of that van and for what happened to Steve." He looked at Jack. "And for your sake of course."

Jack laughed. "Well, we're going to sort this out once and for all."

"Where do you suggest we start?"

Jack sat back down next to Jesse again and thought for a long while. No ideas seemed to be coming to him. "His car…your apartment…I can't think of anywhere where could start looking."

"How about hotels or places where he could be registered under?"

Jack gave him a sidelong glance. "It's LA, there are hundreds of them."

"He hasn't been working for a few months so he'll have to be in somewhere cheap like a motel. I'm sure if we drive round or look out for that car then we'll hit a jackpot." He took out a piece of paper from his jeans pocket. "I've even got the license plate of the car." He thought for another second. "We can't even run it through the police because Steve is in hospital at the moment." He thought about it in frustration. They didn't want to tell Mark what they were doing.

"Well, it's a good try if you don't want him to catch us in the act," Jack said slowly and Jesse turned to look at him with narrowed eyes.

"What do you suggest?"

"Bait. He's after both of us and has got a fixation on us both. Therefore he'll eventually come after one of us."

Jesse gave him an incredulous look. "And kill one us."

"He can't afford to kill any of us. He wants the files, not our bodies."

Jesse thought this over. Jack did have a point. He couldn't believe that he had hated the guy at first. He hated him and wished him dead because he wasn't getting the attention that he had been so used to. Sure, maybe it was a sign of selfishness of being spoilt. Now here they were, two doctors plotting something against their friends to lure out a fraudster and attempted murderer. And it surprised Jesse that he was doing it with Jack, the man he envied. They had ways in getting him and their friends had no idea. Steve would never know and couldn't stop them as long as he remained unconscious. They were doing it for him. They were keeping it from Mark who distraught enough already and from Amanda and Pete, not wanting to expose them to danger.

It was their own little secret and they intended to keep it. To an extent, there was element of fun in it for both of the doctors but there were serious issues with it. They couldn't afford Stoke going around forever. "Did you ever consider just giving up the files?" Jesse asked grinning.

"If there's one thing I learnt from Mark, it's never to give in." Jack nodded to himself, remembering how many times Mark had just carried going on, not matter how wild the theories had been at first. Jesse could hardly argue. He could remember quite a few himself. Obviously, Mark had obviously the same before Jesse came to Community General Hospital. "So, you're in this right? We'll lure Stoke out into the open and nab him."

Jesse nodded and took Jack's hand. Pete suddenly came in and spotted the two engaged in a deep conversation. He took a coffee cup and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What are you two up to?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," both Jack and Jesse said in unison. Pete didn't look convinced but he didn't ask any questions and walked out of the door. When he was out of sight Jack and Jesse burst out in laughter.

* * * * *

Mark went into his sons' recovery room. There was no sound but the constant of the machines helping Steve breathe. He falls back into a chair and ran a hand over his eyes in an effort to wake up. He prayed this was a horrible nightmare; a nightmare, which he will wake, ups in bed on a fine morning and be able to shake off. He knew this was not going to happen, though. The event had happened. Steve had gone in pursuit of Nigel Stoke after he ran out of Jesse's apartment, unaware that the former pathologist was armed. He had taken a lucky shot in the middle of the street, letting lose a bullet right before Steve did. It caught Steve in the side and he was already unconscious when the paramedics left him. Witnesses claimed they saw a man limping away. Maybe the bullet the Steve let out did catch Stoke. They certainly couldn't find it in the street.

Mark stayed there for quite a few hours just waiting for something to happen. His logical Doctor side of him knew that it would take a few days for Steve to wake up from his coma if ever. The father side of him begged and pleaded that Steve would wake up within a few hours and assure him that everything was going to be all right. Pete and Jesse said that the chances of Steve waking up were pretty good. It had gone through his side—not his chest of stomach area. Mark knew that in the back of his mind this was true, he just wasn't thinking straight.

He remembered the last time Steve got shot. It was by a big crime Lord. He had spent days worrying. He didn't return home, he didn't eat; he was forgetting things, which eventually led him to be incriminated for murder. Mark didn't want to go through that again. This time, he was going to spend some time by his sons side in helping him get better and not run around looking for murderers—attackers. He could leave that to the real police this time.

Mark glanced at the clock after a certain amount of time. It was six thirty in the evening. The time seemed to have flown by as he stayed with Steve. He hadn't moved at all. It looked as though the detective was sleeping but he knew there was more to it.

He went outside into the main lobby. Norman caught him quickly. "Mark, I am so, so sorry," he said, with deep regret on his face. Mark nodded understandingly. "If there is anything I can do, please call me or something, all right?" Mark was glad that for once Norman knew what was going on and wasn't being so selfish about anything. His glasses were perched awkwardly at the end of his nose but he didn't seem to notice.

"Thanks, Norman."

"Yes, after all, Mrs. Petunia was a resident here for so long and I know you liked her very much. It's very sad to see her go."

Mark didn't take it too personally. Obviously Norman didn't know about Steve but he on the other hand, had heard about Mrs. Petunia's death earlier that day. "Yes, Norman." He walked away from the hospital manager and decided to get some fresh air outside. There was no sound from outside. The night was already beginning to fall and the sky was a strange azure blue for once.

From inside the hospital, Amanda watched the doctor. She could see he was hurting. Steve's shooting had affected them all, naturally Mark the worst. Amanda went outside and put a hand on his shoulder. He jumped but calmed down when he realized who it was. "Amanda. Sorry, you scared me for a minute."

"Well, you were kind of staring into space there for a moment."

Mark sighed and looked at the sky again. "I was just…thinking. About Steve when he was younger and Margaret." He looked behind him. "Where are Jesse, Jack and Pete?" he asked.

"Well, Pete was inside with me. He was helping me with a few autopsy reports. As for Jack and Jesse—well I don't actually know."

"Let's hope they haven't killed themselves," Mark said, trying to make a lightly joke. He made his way back into the hospital and prepared to spend another time with his son. Amanda turned round and headed back in after wards, seeing sense in Mark's suddenly question. Where _were _Jesse and Jack?

* * * * *

Jesse sat down at the end of the couch in the hotel room of Jack's hotel room. After not returning that night, the hotel assistant at the desk gave the men a very wry look but resumed his work. Jack got his key and they went up into the hotel room. "Hmm, very nice," Jesse said. "Five star hotel and all the peanuts you can eat for free." Jack rolled his eyes and sat down on the recliner on the other end of the room. He rubbed his face in tiredness and then sighed as he looked up at the ceiling. Jesse put his feet up on the table, wondering whether doing this was such a good idea. He had skipped his shift—he had never done that before. They were waiting for Stoke. They must have known where Jack was staying in the hotel. It would be a matter of time.

Jack and Jesse had cleared the place carefully. They would get some sleep and there was a back way secured down the side of the hotel. It wasn't a very big hotel so it wasn't a problem. They would take it in shifts to watch. Mark and Amanda, after all, had never really asked where Jack was staying in a hotel. Jack had used a credit card borrowed from a friend in Colorado so that Stoke couldn't trace him too easily. He could kick himself now.

Jesse looked into the bedroom and then frowned. "There's only one of you staying here. What did you get a room with two beds for."

Jack shrugged. "I thought I might pick up a few woman along the way. Maybe some that still worked in the hospital." He gave Jesse a mock disgusted look. "And all I ended bringing back was _you."_

Jesse looked as sweet as possible. "I could make it worth your while." Both of them fell about in laughter as he said this.

Jack picked up the files he had taken from Steve's house when they left. He took them everywhere with him now in fear that he might lose the one bit of evidence that he needed and that Stoke was after. When he had finished explaining it all to Jesse like he had to Steve and Mark they prepared themselves for the night. None felt like going to sleep though. After the day's events, the adrenaline was still high and they felt like falling about. They knew that Steve was still critically ill after that gunshot wound and Jesse felt guilty that he was not there. Pete was though. Pete was a good doctor and that was all that kept Jesse from returning to the hospital. Jack got out a couple of beers and that seemed to keep them occupied for quite some time.

By the time the clock reached midnight, they were both beginning to feel slightly out of it. Their movements were slow and sluggish. They laughed about anything and fell about the place. It began to grow late when both of them took their places, one on each bed and fell asleep on top of the covers. Jesse fell asleep immediately. Jack was still slightly awake, his eyes half open, staring at the figure on the bed. Jesse's head was turned away from him but he could just about make out the blond hair with the darker highlights swept through them from the lamp still on in the other room. Sighing, Jack's eyes closed and he fell asleep.

The night passed by slowly. A thorough search of the hospital proved that Jesse and Jack were nowhere there. It increased Mark's already tensed up worries. Steve had still not woken up. His heart had failed once again but they managed to get it started again with quick thinking by Pete. Amanda had stayed at the hospital with Mark. There seemed nothing else happening at the hospital. Norman came to apologize about his now obvious mistake and Mark didn't mind at all. And at the hotel, Jack and Jesse were sleeping peacefully, totally zonked out after several drinks.

What awoke them was the sound of crashing glass. Both Jesse and Jack sat upright in bed, staring outside of the door of the bedroom. Glancing at each other, the fear evident on their faces. There was the sound of someone stepped on the glass as it cracked beneath his feat. Jesse gave Jack a look and he held up the files, indicating that he still had them. Silently, the men got out of their beds trying to go as quickly as possible before the intruder could reach them. The sliding doors that led out onto the exit were in the bedroom. Jack had already unlocked it so the rattling of keys wouldn't be heard. Silently the door opened and they crept outside just as the intruder entered the bedroom.

He looked round and spotted them just as the door closed. "Stewart!" he shouted through the glass. Jesse, the last one out, locked it quickly and started running down the stairs after Jack. "Run faster, Jack!" he shouted, his panic growing as he heard the glass shattered above him. The shards started falling.

"I'm trying!" Jack shouted. He protected his face and hair from the glass with the files but he held onto them as a life preserver. His heart was racing as he got down to the bottom of the stairs. He was surprised he was out of breath but maybe it was the fear as well. He took a gulp of air as he jumped the last three stairs to the bottom. Jesse was slightly behind so Jack pulled him down. "Come on, quick." Running, they headed for Jack's car and got inside. "Don't worry, I have the keys."

"Well, that's one less thing to be worrying about." A bullet whizzed past them and the back window shattered into pieces, the bullet lodging into the seat.

Jesse turned and smiled shyly. "Oh, I'm not worried."

Jack started the car and it roared up, almost giving them whiplash. Jack turned out of the hotel car park and headed out onto the highway. A few minutes later, a familiar gray car started following them, gaining speed. "No, not worried at all," Jesse continued, gripping the sides of the car, the fear mounting in his throat. He thought he was going to be sick. They were dodging cars dangerously. "Did you do this stuff when you worked for Mark as well?"

"Trust me, you get used to it." They paused for a brief moment as a passing truth swerved dangerously in front of them. "This is great," Jack muttered, "I've been in LA for three days and I'm about to get a speeding ticket."

"I'm glad you're driving."

"Why?"

"Because otherwise we'd be dead and it won't be from Stoke's bullets."

Jack smiled grimly and carried on driving. Stoke was gaining on them quickly. But suddenly the gray car was blocked from view by a fuel truck carrying several hundred tones of gas. It passed quickly in front of them just before they entered the underground tunnel. Jack figured it would be easy to shake Stoke if they were underground with not too many lights. He took a deep breath and floored the pedal even further. He thought he could feel the wind blowing through the windshield. The fuel track was obviously much faster as it had reached the end of the tunnel. Stoke was still gaining. Jack could almost imagine the grinning picture on his face and he tenderly looked down at the files in his lap. If he could help it, he wasn't going to give them up. He wasn't going to let this man who had conned and destroyed so many family's dignities just walk away easily with them. He thought back to how he had got involved with this and shook his head.

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the end of the tunnel. They could barely see as it was dark at the end and they were only half way through. But it seemed another car lost control. He was going at a fast rate. Suddenly the car swerved madly and crashed…right into the fuel tank. "Oh shi…" Jack started to say but he never got the chance. Jesse's eyes widened.

A fierce and merciless orange ball suddenly engulfed the whole end of the tunnel. They watched in shock as cars were thrown from their places into the walls. The whole entrance was covered by fire. Any car nearby had been burnt to cinders and Jesse and Jack could feel the impact full force from where they were sitting in the car. Jack slammed the foot on his pedal instinctually as he could imagine what was going to happen next and he was right. The force of the hit was large enough to spread the fire.

"Jesse get down!" he shouted loudly grabbing the file and going as far down as he could go. He wriggled into the space between the steering wheel and the seat.

"Why…" Jesse looked up and saw an oncoming ball of fire racing towards him. He didn't ask questions but forced himself down as well, staring at the windshield in absolute terror. He closed his eyes tightly, praying that he could still stay alive after this. He thought it was harmless at first. They could easily outrun Stoke in any way. How do you avoid a massive fireball?

It was scorching hot. They could feel it through the windshield and see it through the sunroof. It almost blinded them both and Jack closed his eyes in desperate effort to keep the pain out. The car seemed to rock and Jack wondered whether it would be hot enough to blow the car apart itself or singe it. After a few tense moments, the glass once again shattered and the front windscreen shattered. Parts of the wall from the tunnel itself started falling as well as the ceiling. Pieces crumbled and landed all around them—large blocks or maybe a few small tiles. Some hit the car, the roof and landed within the car itself. The fireball died down and they were left within the collapsed tunnel. Neither man knew what was coming.

Jesse's heart thought it was going to explode. He didn't dare move in fear that something was going to happen. Then slowly, he moved his head to the left where the driving seat was. Jack was bent over his seat. He could see a bloodstained hand, scratched by glass, still holding the file. Everything seemed silent. Then came the sound of crumbling. Jack moaned and lifted his head. He looked at Jesse then where his horror stricken face was. "Oh god!" he shouted as struggled frantically as a section of the tunnel wall headed straight towards them, part of the unsupported roof collapsing as well right on them.

* * * * *

Amanda ran into the lobby quickly as the second lot of patients came through. She was shocked at the sight. Most of the patients that came in were unconscious or dead. Their bodies were blotched with burn marks and half their clothing had disappeared. As a doctor, she had learnt now to cope with such scenes but it never ceased to horrify her. "We can't cope with so many," she said. "We'd have to share them out with another hospital."

Pete grabbed another stretched, with his team, attaching IV's and an oxygen mask of a patient who was still half alive. "We're sharing it with Queens further out of down and St Jozef's. Hopefully, they should be working on it as well." He gave her a grim look and then went to his patients. Minute by minute, patients came in. Most of them were not alive and Amanda knew she was going to have a hard time. Some of them were so badly burnt of cut it was impossible to make out the features of the person. She knew this was going to take a long time but her priority were the ones who were alive as many of them were not hanging on.

Slowly, the level subsided as the other hospitals helped out but that did still count for an overflow. Mark was desperately trying to help; anything to keep his mind off his son, who he had gladly heard would be making a recovery. He had woken up once before the first lot of patients came in and this gave him the strength to help his other patients. But as he tried to help, he felt his patients slipping away. In need of a five minute break, he returned to the lounge where a lot of doctors and nurses were crowded round the television, either shaking their heads in sympathy or turning away. The news was on, giving a recount of what had happened. "Entirely what caused this is unsure. We do know in fact that a car, losing control somehow had swerved and crashed headlong into a large fuel truck, causing an explosion of about 750 degrees, whooshing its way down the tunnel." A view from the end of the tunnel could just give them the visual idea of what happened.

"This was the scene minutes before that driver and the truth entered the tunnel." It showed the front of the tunnel, just as the truck passed in front of a blue car, which was also traveling very fast. Behind it, almost as if on its tail, followed a gray car. 

"Dr Sloan?" someone asked and he turned round. Standing outside was Steve's sometimes-partner. She was a short black lady with short obviously died blond hair. She looked at Mark. "How's he doing?"

"Steve? He's fine now. Pete says he's going to make it out."

She put a hand to her heart. "Thank God. What about this mess?"

Mark shrugged. "Worse. More deaths that recoveries. Do we know exactly what's happening in the tunnel right now?"

Irene shook her head. "Nope. We have every firefighter and policeman trying to unlock the entrances. The whole thing collapsed—walls caved inwards and the ceiling fell. Some of the cars driving above the tunnel also fell in. The survivors we have reached have been on the edge of the tunnel from those we have managed to salvage from the wreckage. None of them look too good as you can see." She sighed and shook her head. "I dread to imagine what it's like on the inside. There's probably not even anything left there, let alone where the impact actually occurred." Mark shook his head, not wanting to hear it.

Amanda returned stethoscope around her neck. "Lost Hilary Brumes." She looked around the hospital at the doctors and nurses hurried around and the more patients coming in. Her face clouded over. "Where the hell are Jack and Jesse? We could really use them right now whether they're on shift or off. Even Jack could help."

Pete overheard. "I tried ringing Jesse. There's no answer."

"You think that they went off together?" 

Pete shrugged. "They looked as though they were sharing a big secret earlier on. They had bent heads and were shaking hands. I didn't ask what it was and I didn't think anything of it at the time. That's the last I saw of them so I'm guessing they left together."

Mark closed his eyes and let out a low hiss. "I know what they're doing. They're probably out hunting for Stoke. That's the only thing they could be doing." He couldn't believe that Jack and Jesse would run off risking their lives to do something like this. They should have at least waited for Steve and one of them. But what puzzled him even more was why they hadn't returned to the hospital. As soon as they heard something as big as this they would have come back. The whole city must have known by now.

Then it hit him. Suddenly he felt really sick. "Mark, you okay?" Amanda asked, suddenly worried, thinking maybe Mark had over worked himself or was about to faint from exhaustion. His face had turned pale very suddenly.

"Oh God," he whispered and ran into the doctor's lounge. The news had been replaying the same things over and over again on all the channels. He switched them over, trying to find the same thing over and over again. He needed the right part that he had seen before. After several failed attempts he reached it and paused. "There!" he cried, his voice almost hoarse. "Look." They watched the lorry pass over in front of another a car, which was then followed by a fast gray one. Pete and Amanda looked at him blankly. "Who do we know that has a gray car!"

Amanda's mouth dropped open. "Stoke!"

Mark nodded dumbly. "There's only one person he could be chasing."

Amanda closed her eyes. "Jesse and Jack." She turned back as the report from the site showed the workers and fire fighters, desperately still putting out flames and pulling apart the falling concrete. "That means they're in there somewhere. Probably in the middle." She shuddered at the thought of having to treat Jesse and Jack with multiple burns and other serious injuries. Pete swallowed and took a shuddered breath. "We should go down there. We could act as an on-site doctor crew. Don't you think?"

Pete and Mark nodded and left. Mark checked once more on his son who was sleeping peacefully then continued downstairs. He knew Norman would probably kill him for having left the hospital when he shouldn't have. There were plenty of doctors available and the lives of their two best friends could be in danger. They wanted to be there first so the three of them went inside Amanda's car to head down the accident scene.

There they were met by Sergeant Ezra Michaels. "I'm sorry, but you can't come on here. This is a dangerous area, which could cave in at any moment.""We're part of a team that come down to sites," Amanda lied. "We're meant to be here to prepare patients best as possible before they are taken to the hospital."

Ezra narrowed his eyes. "That may be so. But you don't cross the line. There's no place for you over it."

Pete lost his patience and took a step forward towards the straight-backed man. He grabbed him by the lapels of his uniform. "Listen, sir, we are part of a team. We are _meant _to be down here. Now either you can help us save lives or you can watch them die. There are over a hundred people dead at Community General. And what's more, two of the best physicians and friends are trapped in that tunnel so don't tell me that there's no place for us here." Mark and Amanda glanced at each other in shock. They had never seen Pete so angry before. Usually he was the one that joked around in serious situations. He was so calm and laid back…Mark could never really remember him angry until now.

Ezra glared down at Pete. Then he lifted his hands and pried Pete's fingers away from it. "All right," he said tight lipped. "You can come over, but only you three. Grab your stuff and come on before I change my mind." He pressed his face close to Pete. "Just stay out of my way."

"No problem," Pete answered and turned away to grab his stuff with Mark and Amanda. "Man, and these are the people whose lives we depend on every day." He shook his head in disgust and walked back. Mark watched him, surprised at he was so worked up. Pete had never been one to take society and its problems too seriously. He was a dedicated doctor and nothing more.

As they took their stuff, a cry was shouted out. "Another one's coming!" Slowly, through a gap, firefighters emerged carrying another body. He was hardly burnt at all, although his hair was singled and some of his clothes had been slightly worn away. He looked dazed on his feet and came to a rest on a pile of rubble on the side as Mark and Pete reached his side. "Can you tell me your name, sir?" The confused man looked at Pete and then recognized him and Mark as a doctor.

"Dwayne," the man answered. "Dwayne Porter."

"How come you're not so burnt Dwayne. You were much further in the tunnel?"

Dwayne shrugged. "I did the smart thing. I went down as far as I could go, as the fire didn't crack the glass and hit me. I just hid under the steering wheel until the fireball passed." He pressed a hand to his head where it hurt and a trickle of blood was slowly beginning to fall. Pete took care of the patient and sent him to Community General just to have a check up. The man would make it through with no problem. He stood up next to Mark when he was finished.

"So, there is hope," Mark said tightly.

Pete nodded. "Yeah."

"Let's hope that Jack and Jesse did that smart thing too. That way they would have no problem getting out of this easily." He thought about it. "They must have done…they're smart enough. But maybe they had no time…" his voice trailed off as he said his thoughts out loud.

Pete shifted uneasily. "What about Stoke."

Mark shook his head at the remark. "I don't care about Stoke. I don't care if he's dead or alive or even if he has got the files. I only care of Jesse and Jack are alive and I pray they are. I can't afford to lose the best physicians I ever had in one go—not so easily." His hands clenched into fists at the helplessness of the situation. He knew if Steve were awake that he would be on this case. That way they would have easier access. Even though he probably wouldn't let his father into the tunnel at first, he would eventually give in. Now there was no hope past the firm Ezra Michaels. "Somehow we have to know."

"It could take days before they clear it up," Pete said and instantly shut his mouth regretting what he said. He looked at the disaster scene before him, crossing his fingers for more than luck this time.

* * * * *

The place was dark and cramped. Not a thing could be scene. From somewhere came the sound of dripping and a great pain was forced upon his chest. Nothing else could be heard of scene. It was blackness. Then Jesse decided to open his eyes and looked around. What he saw was still darkness with some lights. The electrical system had still not cut out.

Jesse moved and cried out in pain, as fire seemed to engulf his chest. It hurt so much that he was left gasping. When it finally subsided and more light got to his eyes, he went to investigate the cause of the pain and found it instantly. The wall had crashed over them, breaking into little chunks along the way. One of those chunks had smashed through the sunroof and slammed onto Jesse, catching his chest and arm down to his elbow. Jesse knew that if he sat here and waited then it would be even more painful. He may as well get it over with. Besides, it was difficult to breathe like this.

_Three….two….one…._he said to himself and then pushed. The pain soared through him and he wished he could scream. But he didn't want. With tremendous effort and one un-trapped arm, he managed to push the block off and throw it out of the already smashed window. He lay on his back, panting on the effort and then sat back on his seat, rubbing his throbbing chest and finding it much easier to breathe. 

"Hey, Jack, I hope you're doing better than me." Jesse opened his groggy eyes again and turned towards his left. He froze in shock. "Jack," he repeated barely audible. His heart felt as though it had stopped beating for a few seconds because he suddenly felt out of breath again. Quickly, he turned over to get a better look. Jack's window was smashed as well. The wall had fallen over onto his side in the first place. Rock and concrete covered the whole steering wheel and seat. Only part of his hand poked out from the rubble. "Jack! Jack!" He cried out more in panic than anything else.

Slowly, he took the hand but was too afraid to move it in case it was broken. He started pulling rocks away, chucking them out of the window, and finding a strength he never knew he had before. He chucked them all until Jack's hand came more into view, revealing the file he was holding. As the rocks were gathered, more of Jack was revealed. His other hand was wrapped around his head, presumably protecting himself against the rage of concrete. Jack wasn't moving and that worried Jesse. Jack was staring into he seat and he couldn't tell what injuries Jack could tell if he didn't see it. Plucking up the courage against all his medical knowledge, he lifted Jack's head up. The man groaned and his eyes fluttered open.

"Wha," he slurred.

"Jack, can you hear me?" Jesse asked and his response was a nod. "Do you know who you're talking to you?"

"H-hey, Jesse."

"Good." He put some fingers in front of Jack's face. "How many fingers?"

Jack squinted. "Three."

"Good, not that much of a concussion."

Jack shook his head. "No, I think I have got one. I just said three because all doctors show three fingers." Jesse rolled his eyes. "Sorry. My head hurts, and the rest of my body feels numb."

"No kidding, you had a whole wall fall on you," Jesse replied grimly. "I'm going to try and lift you up out of your little hiding place down there. I can't tell if anything hurts and I'm sure you can't either. Just scream but I may have to do it in one quick scoop or else you'll be in pain forever. Ready?" Jack nodded grimly. 

Jesse took a deep breath and started to help Jack out so he could sit on his seat again. Just as he got out, he cried out in pain and fell back against the wheel. The horn, which was still miraculously intact, starting blaring. Jesse realized that he had to do something and in panic, he yanked Jack and forced him into the seat. The blaring stopped and Jack sat gasping, clutching his right arm and his face a mixture of shock and disbelief. "Boy, Travis, remind me never to go into surgery with you. You torture your patients."

Jesse grinned. "Yep, and make love to the nurses."

Jack gave him a dirty look. "Shut up." He winced in pain again and Jesse got serious. "Damn, I think my arm is broken. Must have got knocked by one of those blocks."

Jesse looked around for something that could help him. Spotting his medical kit in the back seats, he reached over the crushed car to get it and struggled getting it in front of him. "This is not going to be easy. I've never actually performed this kind of thing without the proper equipment. We're just going to have to improvise." Jack groaned in pain. "Don't worry, I have to do an emergency operation once on someone in a freight train."

Jack looked horrified. "Did he survive?"

Jesse grinned. "He lived to tell the tale. Right, keep still. I'm going to have to make a makeshift sling out of the thick bandages I have here. I have a bunch of painkillers. Trust me, Jack, this is going to be more painful than any girl that's turned you down."

Jack grunted. "Who says I've ever been turned down."

Jesse didn't reply but started to work. This was going to take a lot of nerve and willpower from both of them. After several excruciating moments of pain, Jesse managed to make the sling round Jack's arm and hold it into place. With a water bottle found, Jack took some painkillers and sat back against the seat. He looked admiringly at the sling. "Not bad, Jesse, I've seen some pretty worse off practical from professionals in hospitals. It doesn't feel too bad either."

Jesse rolled his eyes and looked around the small compartment that was once Jack's car. "We need to get out of here," he said. He looked round at Jack's side. "Part of the wall if blocking you. If I can get out, I think I should be able to move it and help you get out of your seat." Jack was about to tell him to stop; that it was too risky. But Jesse had already started. His door was stuck—automatic lock. His only way out was through the window so he started. He pulled down the sleeves as far as they could go and started to climb through, trying not to kick Jack in the process. It was a hard thing to do. Several times he thought he would be stuck but he managed to struggle out, the glass pieces that still clung to the window, tearing his clothes. But finally, he made it out and landed on the ground of the tunnel.

He picked himself up quickly and in doing so, looked down the tunnel. His mouth opened in shock at the horrific scene before him. It was chaos and the thing that made it that was there were no people around at all. Roofs and walls had collapsed everywhere…they couldn't see past them. Cars were trapped everywhere and all inside were dead anyway, either from the falling walls or the burns.

The electric lights still gave off a little bit of heat but a burst water main inside was flooding the place slowly with water. No one else seemed to be around. The place was silent. Every now and again some cry would go off; a voice could be heard; a low moan from someone else; even the sound of sirens somewhere in the far distance. Because the roof had collapsed, the road that was above the tunnel caved in as well. Cars from the top of the tunnel had fallen as well. Jesse looked in pity at one of the cars in the tunnel with two cars piled on top of them. He could still see the baby in the backseat.

"Hey! Jesse!" Jack called. "I'm glad you got out but can you help me."

Jesse shook himself from the disaster scene and concentrated on helping Jack. No use crying about the dead yet. He climbed over the bonnet of the car to Jack's side. Preparing himself, he pushed against the wall, trying to move the block out the way. It didn't budge at first at Jesse thought it was helpless. He closed his eyes tight and pushed as hard as he could, mustering all his strength and suddenly, it started to move. The block crumbled and dust rose into the air. Jesse coughed a few times then made his way to Jack's door. The handle was wedged in but he managed to open the door and Jack climbed out.

"Thanks, man, it was getting stuffy in there." For the first time, Jack looked at the devastating scene before him and stopped dead. His eyes lay transfixed on the scene before him and he swallowed once. "Oh shit," he said, his voice hoarse. "How are we going to get out?"

Jesse wiped the dust from his hands onto his jeans. "Crawl through the parts that we can. Go where there are spaces. The closest entrance is that way so we may as well get moving." He started going forth, going over the wall he had just pushed down and heading in between the cars, careful what he trod on. Jack stared helplessly at the impossible maze and started after him. Sometimes there were complicated parts to go through. Sometimes they had to shift things and hope nothing else fell. Sometimes the places were tight to fit through and they had to squeeze. Jack also needed help because of his arm and Jesse was carrying his medical kit around if need be and inside that where Jack's files. Sometimes, too, there were odd positions to crawl through. Sometimes crawling on the ground, over beams and cars, scratching the surface of a remaining roof or in between a wall and a car.

This lasted for half an hour. Jesse was in the lead, trying to help Jack along the way when he was stuck. They passed many cars and people. Most of which were dead; some of which were close to dying. They tried to ignore the sounds. By half an hour, Jesse was getting tired. Not even doing night shifts were as strenuous as this. "All this for a bunch of files," he muttered to himself. "I can't believe I run round half of LA with a bunch of files only to be trapped underground."

"Hey, you thought it was a good idea," Jack said, shrugging.

Jesse turned round, his eyes ablaze. "Well, I think it's the _wrong _idea now! We should never have done it 'cause it's only getting us into trouble. That truck was going to explode whether or not we were in the tunnel! We should be at the hospital _helping _people, both of us! Not trapped down here where we are the ones in danger."

Jack now looked rather angry. "You think I like this as well? Do you think I liked being chased all the way from Colorado to California with a bunch of files that could put a man away for life? Furthermore, he's still after me. You didn't have to come with me."

"Yeah, well maybe I shouldn't have."

"That's your decision. I came here for help. I came here for help from my friends. I thought you were my friend, Jesse!"

Jesse, who had turned to face the front again, whirled round on him. They were in a clearing, standing on a fallen flat wall. "I AM NOT YOUR FRIEND!" he shouted, making it echo down the tunnel. Even Jack flinched. "You are Mark, Steve and Amanda's friend, not mine! I wasn't there when you were, I only knew them _after _you went. I'm just the little replacement intern that just so happened to be friends with Mark, Steve and Amanda." Jesse was angry when he finished saying this. His blue eyes were flashing and his tousled blond hair made him look even more threatening. 

Jack didn't say anything. He stared in shock at the young doctor, who had his hands clenched by his sides and his eyes glistening with—rage? Or was it tears? "Jesse, you don't have to know me all the way back then to be my friend. I like you, you're a great guy and a really good Doctor. You helped me back then with my arm and out of the car. You wouldn't had done that if you weren't my friend." Jack paused for a moment, thinking about what say next. His mouth formed a tiny smile. "You know what, you kinda—kinda remind me of myself…when I was at community general working with Mark, Steve and Amanda. I was eager to work, eager to help people and constantly making some sort of fool out of myself."

Jesse listened carefully, his hands uncurling at the same time. He was angry—angry enough to go crazy and attack someone. Jack still continued. "I understand why you're mad at me. It's like that discussion we had outside in the parking lot. I'm here and I'm taking up all of Mark and Steve's time. You feel out of place. I understand."

Jesse simply shrugged. "It's partly that. It's also partly that I'm stuck here!" He kicked the tire of one of the cars. "I'm a Doctor, I'm meant to help people. I _want _to help people. I also became one to impress my mother but it's also the reason I am a doctor. I wouldn't want to do anything else in my time. I want to be back at Community General, taking care of the patients because of this accident. I don't want to _be _one of the patients."

Jack nodded. "I understand. We still can be if we move fast enough and get out of here. I know my arm is kind of slowing me down but I know we still could." Jesse look to the side of him where somewhere in the madness of concrete and twisted metal was the exit.

* * * * *

Some people had been as wise as Dwayne Porter was and ducked under the seats so the scorching hot flame hadn't hit them. Those few dozen were sent to community general and the remaining bodies that were uncovered were sent to St Jozef's. A break was done in favor for the doctors who had done a lot.

Pete, with a plastic cup of coffee from a flask, observed as the men still worked their way through the rubble of the entrance. He was sitting next to Caleb Jacobs, one of the firefighters, who accidentally had a piece of rubble fall of his leg and break it. He was sitting on the sidelines. "How come," Pete said, "they have only cleared out the rubble in that bottom corner of the tunnel? Why not just take all of it out. That way more people could get in and out."

Caleb ran his hands down his leg. "Nah, can't afford that. All that rubble there, it's supporting the roof. If they get rid of it, the whole thing collapses and it might block any passage we have of safely getting in there." Caleb took a drink from one of the nearby glasses. "It's a painstakingly slow process but we'll get there eventually."

Pete nodded and stood up. He walked towards the entrance where the fighters had finished watering down any more fires. They were still crawling inside but now coming up empty. He heard one of them say that they had come across a lot of dead bodies in cars but so far, not many more living were left. Pete clutched his glass harder. "How far have you got into the tunnel?" he asked.

The fighter looked at him. "About a quarter of the way in. It's still slightly too hot to go any further. And we may as well forget about going to the very end in a survival attempt. There'll be no one left down there." He wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his yellow jacket. "There's another fire fighting team at the other end getting rid of all the wreckage and taking it away so we can work from both ends."

Pete looked up. "Is there no way of getting through the roof to get inside the tunnel. There may still be people, like Dwayne, who could have saved themselves."

The fighter shrugged. "It's possible but—"

He stopped as a figure behind Pete approached. Pete calmly turned round and looked at Ezra Michaels, who was glaring down at the young doctor. "And what do you think you're doing?" Pete had taken a definite dislike to the hard officer and vice versa. Ezra glared down at the doctor who was standing defiantly, holding the cup of coffee. "Teaching me officers how to handle a situation like this maybe?"

"I was just giving some advice," Pete pointed out.

"Well, Taylor, here's some more advice. How about you leave this job to me and your job to yourself." Pete's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You know, you're just like your father: Always trying to help but still always getting in the way. Don't follow in his footsteps and make the same mistake."

Pete's eyes widened in shock and then narrowed more. In one swoop he flung the hot coffee onto the officers' crisp uniform and pushed him hard into he ground. "Don't you _ever _insult him like that. It's your entire fault it happened. It's your fault he died so don't go telling me that it wasn't worth anything. And don't talk about things you don't know, Michaels. It could put you into trouble."

Ezra got up and grabbed the doctor by the lapels of his white gown, shaking him slightly. "You can't talk to me like that Taylor. I can take your job right away from you easily. I have authority after you and what I say goes. And what I say, is that you are not better than your farther was."

Pete swung round and caught the officer on the jaw. It eventually started into a tussle on the ground in which both were grappling in vain to overpower the other. Pete was slightly short and not as well built as Ezra, but nevertheless he was strong, especially when he was angry. People began to notice the fighting and tried to stop it before anyone got hurt. Mark rushed over and tried to pull a hysterical Pete away from the commanding officer. One of the fighters helped him and then tried to hold him back as someone else did to Ezra to stop them lunging again.

"Pete, stop, it's not worth it." Pete glared at Ezra and then turned round angrily, shrugging them all off to walk away. He passed a shocked Amanda and went to sit down on the ground next to one of the engine, his hand clenching and unclenching in an effort to keep himself calm again. Amanda tentatively took a few steps forward and sat down next to him, Mark doing the same.

"You have some history with Ezra you never told us?" Amanda asked.

Pete took a deep breath and swallowed his anger down. "Michael's…he's been around for a long time. My dad, he was a firefighter and they were both cadets, him and Michael's. If there was ever a rivalry between groups it was those two. Ezra _hated _my dad and he still _hates _me. Then, one day, this house was ablaze. Only Ezra and my dad was inside the building and there were a couple of kids upstairs they had to get, one six year old and one baby. My dad had them at the back whilst Ezra led them at the front. My dad could see that the entrance was about to collapse so he pushed the children and Ezra out of the door as…as the rest of that building collapsed." Pete clenched his fist. "And what does Ezra do? Goes around mocking that he had saved the children and that my dad went a little crazy inside the building!"

He looked as though he was about to hit someone. Amanda put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "After that, I tried to make Ezra's life hell. I used to play practical jokes on him with my friends. Then he got promoted to right up the rank he is now. It makes me sick. My dad should be up there, not him." Pete sighed and lifted his head back against the fire engine. "Now he wanders around like he owns everything and questioning me."

Amanda shook her head. "You can't go around letting him think that he's getting the better than you."

Mark nodded. "That's right. Do the sensible thing and ignore him. You know you've done better. You're a doctor and you're dedicated to saving people's lives and you're doing a much better job than he is doing." He looked back just as the firefighters came out with another body. "Our main concern is that somewhere in there, Jack and Jesse are still alive."

Amanda turned away and looked back towards the rubble, her mind screaming out a begging that they were all right. As she thought of the disaster occurring before them, she felt the tears slip down her cheeks. Pete's head was down so he didn't notice but Mark could see it. He went over to her and an arm around her shoulders. "You're worried aren't you?" Amanda nodded and ran her hands over her eyes trying in vain to keep the tears out. "Do you want to talk about it? You know it may help." Amanda nodded and they walked over to the car, sitting inside.

"Scared would be a better way to put it," Amanda replied lying back against the leather seat. "I can't believe they could be gone so easily. Jack…well you know how everyone liked him. He was always there for us—stupid a times, a bit too over protective but I still loved him like he was a brother. He came back to see us and ask for our help and now he could be dead. And Jesse…he's like an annoying little brother. He's too young to die and no one should die…like that."

Mark nodded. "I know." Inside he was worried as well. Worried enough to create nausea. It was all too much. What with Steve's shooting and the possible death of his two best friends, it was taking its toll. But now that Pete was in a sullen mood and Amanda was crying, he would have to be the one to maintain authority and peace. He was determined to believe that somewhere in there Jack and Jesse were still alive. But what also worried him was that Stoke still was. If they happened to bump into each other.

"They're going to be fine…"

* * * * *

Jesse's eyes began to close. It was so hot inside the tunnel. He had taken of his tie and slung it over his shoulder and undone his shirt in an effort to cool down. Jack had done the same thing. They could still smell smoke and the remains of the fiery heat still radiated off the metal cars. They were still trampling along; Jesse in front and Jack behind. But as Jack watched the smaller man, he could tell he was slowing. His movements were definitely much slower and more sluggish, not as sharp as usual. He spent his time clambering over things and if he listened past the shouting and water pouring, he could hear Jesse's labored breathing.

"You all right, Jesse?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jesse replied, breathless. They had been climbing over a mound of cars piled on top of each other, hoping they would not topple over. Jesse had to bring his hand down to hoist Jack up ever now and again. He sat down on some of the rubble and looked from the height at the rest of the tunnel. "I just need a break. I feel like I'm going to pass out."

Jack raised an eyebrow at Jesse and reached up to the other doctor's level. He sat down next to him and lifted his good arm to check Jesse's forehead and then his vital signs. "I think you may be slightly dehydrated. We should really find some water and something to eat or else we'll end up in trouble." Jesse didn't answer but merely nodded drowsily. "There may be something in these cars." Jack slowly got to his feet again and lifted Jesse up. "Come on, we have to get up and search or else we'll never make it back." Jesse groaned but followed Jack down the mound slowly before his feet hit the ground and he almost toppled over.

"Find cars," Jack shouted across to him, "that don't have any piled up on top of them. Try and yank open the door." Jesse nodded and setting his mind to it, began to search amongst the cars, pulling doors open whilst trying not to burn his hand and ignoring the bodies around him as he searched for food and water. Jack did exactly the same but only with one arm. Their search seemed to prove fruitless. Jack shut one of the doors in frustration and walked over to another.

He opened the door and it was obvious that this family were heading on a vacation or coming back from one, judging by the suitcases. Then his dark eyes fell upon the sigh of a small cool-box shape in the open trunk. He pulled it out, over the burnt body of a child and brought it into the open. Jack pulled the lid off and inside found a few candy bars, orange soda and packets of chips. "Jesse!" he shouted. "Come here, I found something."

Dragging his feet, Jesse went over to Jack and fell to his kneels beside the cool box. Jack had managed somehow to flick the top off one of the bottles and handed it to the young doctor. "Drink it quick, you need it more than me. Even though it isn't thirst quenching, it should be all right for you." Jesse took the bottle, drinking it readily and already felt his senses regain. His parched throat and mouth felt the cool liquid that it had longed for and it was only then that he realized he was hungry. Both Jack and Jesse ate the candy and the chip packets available in silence.

Jack suddenly sat back on his heels and cocked his head to the side. His eyes narrowed and he frowned. "Did you hear that?"

Jesse looked up questioningly. "What?"

A creaking sounded near by them and they turned towards the wall. "That." Jesse stood up and he could feel the wall vibrating as he came closer. The wall about a hundred yards from them burst and water started to spew out. "Run!" Jack didn't need telling twice as he started to. He found a lorry and clambered into the back of it. Jesse wasn't so lucky though as he tripped and fell and picked himself up again. The wall beside them exploded, sending concrete everywhere and allowing the flood of water to come in. Jack watched as Jesse disappeared under the heavy water.


	3. Seeing it go....

****

WELCOME BACK TO COMMUNITY GENERAL HOSPITAL

PART 3

It was the early hours of the morning. The terrible flood of patients had calmed down. In room 203, a figure shook his head and tried to wake up desperately. In his head he was dreaming—or more like having a nightmare. He tossed slightly, shaking his head from side to side. His eyes fluttered occasionally and he grabbed the sheets, clenching them into his fists. As a blinding flash of light hurt his eyes, he opened them and stared, forcing the white stars away. He sat up suddenly and pain soared through his right side. He collapsed onto his back against the pillows. He could see a door open and nurse in a uniform came in. She looked as though he had been there all night and her eyes were red.

"Susan?" he asked in disbelief. "Wh—what's going on?"

"Oh, Steve, thank goodness you've woken up," Susan said relieved and wiped her eyes quickly. "It will be one less thing for Mark to worry about."

Steve blinked. "Wh—I don't understand? What's happened to me? Why are you crying? And what do you mean it's one less thing for my dad to worry about."

Susan collapsed by Steve's bedside and into a chair. "You were shot, Steve, whilst chasing a man. He shot at you but fortunately it was not serious. Mark told me all the information really early this morning in case you woke up. There was a terrible accident down at the intersection tunnel last night. An explosion occurred, sending a fireball up it and the whole tunnel collapsed…"

Steve grabbed Susan's arm and she could see the fear and horror in the detective's eyes. "My father's all right," he tried to state hoarsely.

Susan burst into tears and nodded. "Yes, he's fine. He, Pete and Amanda have been down there all night with the bodies and checking on everyone. Hardly anyone has survived so far but you know what the horrible thing us…" Steve waited as he saw more tears trickle down. "Jesse's in the tunnel. He went with Dr Jack Stewart. The same man who shot you and happened to be in the tunnel when it exploded was chasing them. They haven't been found yet at all."

Steve turned round slowly, not believing what was happening. It was all too much for him. He remembered being shot now. Stoke had turned and blindly shot, then disappeared. Tenderly, Steve touched his side where the bullet had ripped through. It still hurt like mad and his head felt heavy. But he couldn't believe it…Jesse and Jack? Dead? In the tunnel? It couldn't be happening. They were his best friends. He couldn't believe that whilst he was asleep this had been happening. He closed his eyes forcing the tears not to come out. He couldn't give up hope yet…they were still alive. He could feel it.

He had known both Jack and Jesse too long. Even though he had to admit, he had known Jack for longer, both of them had places within him. He didn't feel as though they were dead. They were still alive. "Susan," he said to the sobbing nurse. "You have to help me get up and get down there, it's important.

Susan looked horrified. "You know I can't do that. It's too dangerous and you've only just woken up!"

Steve shook his head. "I don't care. I need to be down there with my dad and know what's happening. I can't just sit here. Put me in a wheelchair if you have to but you have to find some way of getting me down to that tunnel." He looked at the reluctant Susan pleadingly. "Please!" Susan looked around, not knowing what to do. Then she nodded and prepared to take Steve down, getting a wheelchair and a medical kit. A friend of hers, who ran the OAP's ambulance collection bus, agreed to take Steve down. At least them she felt better about what she had done.

Steve rode with Susan's friend and he then helped him out of the ambulance. "Dad!" Steve shouted down to his father, who was negatively shaking his head at another patient who they had lost. They put him on a stretcher and covered him with a sheet. Mark, Pete and Amanda turned round in surprise. Steve was shocked at their conditions. All of them were ragged, with dark lines under their eyes. They had obviously not slept all night. Dirty and soot covered their clothes.

"Steve!" Mark cried running over to his son. "What are you doing here? You should be in a hospital getting some rest. You shouldn't be down here."

Steve shook his head. "I have to be. Jack and Jesse?" he asked hopefully.

Amanda shook her head. "Still no sign, Steve."

Mark lowered his head. "The longer this drags on, the more I begin to have my doubts. The firefighters have given up rescuing people with burn injuries. A lot of them are dead now anyway. Those that were alive without the marks were drowning. Several water mains have broken down in there and they don't think they'll be able to get in much further." Mark sighed. "There is only a slim chance they can get through all of that if they even made it past the explosion itself."

Steve swallowed. "And Stoke?"

"No sign of him either."

Steve looked despairingly at the rubble entrance. There seemed to be no hope for them. His hands clenched and clutched the sides grabbing the arms of the wheelchair. "They're alive," he said confidently. "The others looked at him with confusion etched upon their faces. "Don't ask me how I know. I can just feel it. They may be in there but they're still alive." Mark sighed, hoping that his son was right. Maybe it was because he had spent a long time down at the site that he felt dubious about their survival. With endless amounts of bodies dying and no sign of Jesse and Jack, his hopes had begun to fall.

Now was the time to pick them back up.

"TAYLOR!" someone shouted loudly, echoing all around the site.

Pete's head snapped back round and faced Ezra Michaels who was making his way towards them. A large stitched up cut was visible on his temple where Pete had hit him the night before. Pete hadn't come away unscathed either. Ezra looked far from happy. His face was straight and his eyes were narrowed towards the doctor.

"Yes, Michaels?" Pete said evenly. Mark put a hand on Pete's arm for reassurance and also to make sure he didn't leap forward and do something he'd regret. Pete stared straight at Michaels as the commanding officer stood up towards him. Pete tried his best not to look too high up to be level with him.

"I need you to do a job for me. I have one of my men in there with a twisted ankle and he can't get up to get out of there. I need someone to patch up his ankle so he can get out. Can you do it?"

Pete's eyes flashed angrily for a brief second. "Why do you want _me?"_

Ezra's expression did not change. "Because I need someone that I can trust and know. At least I can say I know you." 

Pete picked up his medical bag. As he passed Ezra he hissed, "don't think that is going to earn you an apology. I'm playing the doctoring role, not the forgiving role." Mark let him go, hoping he would not do something stupid. Ezra didn't follow him but Pete went in by himself passed the small hole in the rubble to go and help the injured man. When he entered, he could immediately feel the heat and smell the smoke. His face was horrified as he looked down the tunnel. A lot of the entrance had been cleared but the chaos was still visible down the other end of the tunnel. Swallowing a few times he followed the trail to the injured man.

"I'm Dr Taylor," he told the man as he bandaged the injured leg and applied antiseptic. The man nodded and Pete helped him to his feet. As he did so, a shot seemed to ring out from within the tunnel. Both men turned round at the sound despite the others injured leg. Even with all the water, it had still made them jump and echo down the whole tunnel. "Who's there!" Pete shouted.

There came no reply but as they looked down, they could see a figure running away. Pete peered more closely and studied the man. He shouted something down the tunnel but was turned away from them. The water made the voice muffled but Pete was certain about what he saw. Dragging the man out of the tunnel, he placed him down and let his friends take care as he ran back to Steve, Marl and Amanda. "Pete, you look as though you just ran a marathon. What happened."

"I saw Stoke," Pete replied breathlessly. "It had to have been him. I heard a shot from within the tunnel. He was running away from us from deep within and shouting."

Mark looked at Amanda and Steve a new fire in his eyes even though he was tired and drawn. "That proves they're alive. Stoke would have no need to shoot someone if Jesse and Jack weren't alive without the files."

****

_A few Hours ago_

Before Steve had woken up early that morning, Jack had watched Jesse be engulfed by waves of water from the burst main systems. He cried out his name over and over again, pleading that Jesse would resurface. In his head he counted the seconds, which he eventually lost track of. He cried his name out again in vain. Over the roar of the water, it was impossible to hear himself. Jack considered jumping into the water himself and trying to find Jesse. Then he remembered his arm and knew that he would never be able to manage swimming with one arm and getting Jesse to the surface. Even with both arms, the current would have been too strong.

From the back of the lorry, Jack screamed again. He knew it was hopeless. Then a horrible vision came to mind. He had managed to get out of the tunnel alive and had gone to the hospital where Mark and Amanda were. Steve had just come out of his own recovery and was taking over the case. He could see himself explaining to them how Jesse had died; how he had drowned. After everything Jesse had done to help him, he felt guilty about leaving him there to drown whilst he waited. Jack knew he couldn't allow it to happen to his friends. He would be prepared to jump in himself, broken arm or not broken arm. 

It was then that he heard a splutter. He looked down. The water had grown up to the top of the lorry's tires and clinging onto one of them was Jesse. His head was barely out of the water but he forced himself out, shaking his blond hair. "Jesse," Jack said more with relief than anything else. He reached out his good arm and leaned against the side of the lorry. "Reach out and grab my arm. I'll get you up here."

Jesse shook his head. He could barely speak he was using up too much energy. With one great effort, he swung his arm round and his medical kid flew into the lorry. "Forget the files!" Jack cried. "I have to get you up here." Jesse nodded and took Jack's hand. Jack tried hard to get him aboard. He could feel a strain in his broken up but he ignored it to get the other doctor aboard. Jesse tried to contribute as well but putting his feet onto the tire and get himself up. But it was wet and several times he felt himself slipping. At one point, he did and Jack lost his grip. Panic gripped Jack but then he sat Jesse grab onto the side of the lorry. Kicking in the water and propelling himself and crawled into the lorry, spreading himself out on the floor of it, panting like mad.

His wet hair and clothes watered the ground but he didn't care. He was lacking in energy now after that and the cold water had not helped. It had taken it all away and now that he was out, he was shivering. Jack crawled over to him. He lifted the doctor into a sitting position and leaned him against the wall of the lorry. "Jesse, Jesse! Can you hear me?" The younger doctor nodded, blinking slightly. "Phew, man, _never_ scare the hell out of me like that again."

Jesse grinned up at him. "At least I got all the water I needed."

Jack rolled his eyes and ruffled Jesse's wet hair as he stood up to collect the medical kit. His hair was now a total mess. Jack sat back down next to Jesse and opened the bag. The files were still safely inside. "Amazing how you managed to keep a hold of them, I'll never know how."

"That's all good and well," Jesse stated. "But how are we going to get out with them. There's water in between here and the next bunch of cars. They're all piled up on top of each other. If we can get to them, we can get to higher ground and maybe get our way back again." Jesse shook his head and pushed his hair back. "There's no way you can swim it. You'd do even more damage to that arm even if you did to a backstroke. The water is far too strong." Jack nodded, seeing Jesse's point. He noticed the doctor had been through quite a lot. He had just managed to get out of being drowned _and _saved the files, but still managing to keep a clear head and assess the situation. Both Jack and Jesse walked over to the edge of the lorry again to see what was happening outside and what their options were.

Just as they reached it, they heard a crumble. "Get back!" Jesse shouted, pulling Jack so they fell backwards, as another section of wall fell on the right hand side. The lorry shook as the concrete hit it and the water splashed high into the air. When it had all settled again, Jack got painfully to his feet, clutching his arm and looked outside. Jesse followed him up. 

"That's it," Jack said. "That's our way out. Look, the rocks have practically formed a bridge from here to those cars. All we have to do is walk across it." He looked at Jesse's worried face. "I know it's dangerous and I know what will happen if we fall in. But it's better than sitting here and waiting. The closer we get, the better." He put a hand on Jesse's arm, who was still shaking from cold, but was it still from fear. He called Jesse's name but the doctor but he didn't appear to hear him.

Finally, Jesse turned to him. "I'm scared, Jack. I'm scared about how far we can get away with. So far we've been lucky. I don't want to die, Jack. Not yet. Not here…"

Jack grabbed Jesse by his shoulders. "I know you're scared. I'm scared too, you know, but we're going to get out of this mess. We were smart enough to get down with the fireball. We can get across here and reach the entrance. You've done a lot for me in here. Now it's my turn to help you with something. I will help you get across this but just relax." He smiled. "When we get out of this, I'm going to treat you to something. I don't know quite what, but it's up to you, okay?"

Jesse simply nodded, a small smile creeping upon his face. He nodded and then slowly sat down on the edge and lowered himself onto the blocks. He had no idea how steady they were. As he went down, he got his footing, made sure he was balanced properly and then prepared himself to go across the hundred yards to the piled up cars. Jesse took a deep breath and took a few steps forward, prying his hands away from the edge of the lorry that he had been holding tightly onto. He took another step and then another until he was in the middle of the concrete bridge.

He looked back and saw Jack following him. "Don't look behind you!" Jack called. "You'll only lose your balance. Watch your step or those cars and you can make it to the other side." Jesse didn't even remember how he got the other side. The rest of the journey was a blur but eventually, his hands clamped round the wing mirror of a car and he climbed on board the bonnet, grabbing hold of Jack and his bag. Then they started to climb up the cars going as high as they could above the water level. Finally they sat down and looked at the rest of the way down the tunnel. 

"Well, we can be sure about one thing," Jack said, wiping his forehead, "that no other pipes burst down there. There's no flooding going on down that end of the tunnel. We should be able to make it through. I think I can just about see the entrance."

"You must have good eyesight. All I see are cars, cars and more cars."

Jack grinned slightly. "Trust me, Jess, we don't have too far to go until we're out of here. Then I owe you big time for everything you've done. We'll carry on with our own doctoring things. I doubt we're going to forger this, though." He laughed at Jesse's shocked face.

"I _really _doubt it," Jesse answered. "It's hardly something to forget even though I've been through some strange things in my lifetime here." He took a deep breath and rested his arms on his knees. "Hey…err…Jack, I want to say I'm sorry. I've said some things to you, which were totally out of order. I was just—angry about what was happening and took it out on you. I'm sorry. You are my friend as much as Steve, Mark and Amanda." He held out his hand.

Jack took it lazily. "Oh man, lay off the soppy talk. I never it all personally anyway. I equally owe you an apology. I've _done _some things as well." 

As they shook a shot sounded. The wind mirror beside Jack cracked and then looked down at a figure, with a gun pointed up at them. His short hair was singed and his clothes, like his own was burnt and torn. "Stoke," both men said together and ducked behind the car as another bullet whizzed past them. Jack cursed his bad luck. He couldn't believe that after everything they had been through, Stoke could still find them and want to do something with them. He couldn't afford anyone to get hurt. This was his battle in the first place. He had dragged his old friends into it and now Jesse. Without many places to go, he was in trouble.

"Stewart!" Stoke shouted over the roaring water. "I know you're up there. You know very well that we're not going to get out of here. We'll die inside this tunnel. I'm going to die with you and your little friend as well. You're never going to get those files outside this tunnel!" He shouted his last words loudly, as though he was positive it was going to happen. From Jack's point of view, the man sounded mad. 

Jesse, though, was thinking more clearly. He grabbed the medical bag from Jack's hand. They could hear Stoke make his way above the cars. Fumbling Jesse brought out another file. "This is the file of a patient who had cardiac arrest a few days ago. I'm going to take it and pass it off as the files that you stole from Stoke. I'll lead him away from you. You take this bag with the real files and try and make it back out to the entrance."

"But…"

"But nothing!" Jesse hissed loudly. "You can hardly face Stoke with your arm. You wouldn't get anywhere and you can hardly run back and swim in the water. You only chance is to start running and the best you can do is run with those files." He looked at Jack with a glaring eye.

"I'm not going to get you killed!" Jack said evenly.

"Both of us can die if that's the way you want it," Jesse replied, starting to go down. Jack followed. "Go through that gap in between the car and the wall. He won't see you as long as you stick to the edge. Go find Mark or someone and bring them back." Jack looked at Jesse doubtfully but the young doctor gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. People have tried to kill me several times and so far I'm not dead. I don't intend to let one balding pathologist kill me with one bullet." He prodded Jack and he reluctantly left, leaving him. Jesse wished he were as confident as he sounded. Holding the files in his hand he clambered to the opposite side that Jack was going.

"Hey Stoke!" he shouted loudly, making the man, who was half way up, look at him. "Looking for these files?"

Stoke looked up at him, a fire in his eyes. He lifted his gun and shot blindly. It missed Jesse by miles but he still ducked just in case. "You may as well give them to me, boy!" Stoke shouted loudly. "You have no idea what you are getting yourself into and I don't want to shoot an innocent young man like you who is getting involved in the wrong thing." To Jesse, it sounded as though the man didn't care who he shot unless he got those files.

"You'd have to get them off me first!" Jesse ran and so did Stoke.

Jack had taken his chance and watched as he ran as Jesse cried over to Stoke. He prayed that Jesse would make it out and that he wasn't being selfish by running away and leaving Jesse to fight by himself. He could see the entrance already. There were a few men by the entrance, presumably the rescue team. They couldn't see him because he was on the side of the tunnel but he carried on running despite his injured arm to get out. Then, as he came into view, he heard a shot echo from inside the tunnel.

* * * * *

Steve, naturally, as a detective was unsure about his father's words. Stoke could be shooting for any reason. He was certain that Stoke, if it was Stoke, was shooting for survival. His main concern was probably not the files but to get out alive. Pete may have jumped to conclusions of course, but even a shot was a very distinctive sound. Maybe it was just one of the many happenings from within that tunnel that he heard? These thoughts whirled round Steve's mind over and over again. He felt a constant nausea in his stomach from moving too much and his head hurt after all the movement since waking up. His side where he had been shot was throbbing so he decided to keep still.

His father had sent him back up to the ambulance where it was safer and where there wasn't so much movement. Steve sat and thought for a while about the possibilities. It was hard to think when two of your best friends were trapped somewhere in the midst of a massacre that he had no power over. He wasn't in change of the clear up and he was in no condition to go inside and find anyone. His only hope was that his father would not do anything stupid and go inside himself to find them. Steve hoped that somewhere within there…

Shouting from below interrupted the thoughts. He gripped the arms of the wheelchair to see. From the tunnel a figure emerged. He stumbled slightly and regained his balance and carried on running. "Jack," Steve whispered. To the driver, he said, "Take me down there, quick!"

He was taken down to where Jack was standing. Mark, Pete and Amanda were already there as he reached it. Jack looked slightly worse for wear. His clothes were disheveled and torn in several places. His hair and eyebrow were slightly singed. Jack looked so tired that he thought he might pass out right there and then. The lines under his eyes were visible in the morning light and his arm was in a makeshift sling, which was tight around him, made from some bandages. "Jack, thank God you're all right," Amanda said, hugging him. "What happened?"

"Lots of things," Jack replied and quickly recounted how they made it out alive and past the blocks and the water flows.

"But where _is _Jesse?" Mark asked. Jack lowered his head. "Oh, no," Mark said, voicing the thought for everyone. "He's not…is he?"

Jack shook his head. "He wasn't the last time I knew. Stoke's alive, he found us. Jesse took a different file to pass of as the ones we had kept. The real ones are in this bag here. Jesse lured him away from me so I could get out. As far as I know, he's still in there with Stoke."

Steve looked at the others. "Well, he's in there and he's alive. Someone just has to go in there and get him. Irene!" he cried out to his partner and the lady went over to him. "Jesse Travis is still there. Do you think you can gather you're team and send them in there to find him?" Irene nodded.

"They shouldn't be much further past a large pile up of cars," Jack piped up. "There's no water before there but after those cars the pipes burst. If they haven't gone any higher, there should be this concrete bridge. But Jesse and Stoke couldn't have gone too far." Irene nodded, appreciating the help and turned on her heel to go and get her crew to help Jesse to get out of there. Jack sat back against the log he was resting on and closed his eyes. "I can't believe this is happening."

"How bad was it?" Pete asked gently.

Jack shook his head. "You couldn't even imagine—well maybe you can. Constantly being trapped. I think apart from Stoke, we were the only ones alive in there. Every car we passed there were just—bodies. Everywhere all burnt! Cars were piled up on top of each other and concrete everywhere. The water was constantly being filled up. I was trapped with a broken arm and with me was Jesse. He got all the blocks off me, got me out of the car and bandaged my arm. I owe him a lot. And I can't believe I just left him to Stoke!"

Mark put a hand on Jack's shoulder. "You couldn't help it. What he offered to do was his doing. He also did have some arguments. Jesse's going to make it out. He seems to make it out of everything so one more wouldn't surprise me."

Jack carefully held onto his bandaged arm. He rocked himself forward. He nodded at Mark's statement and the others watched him. It could be that Jack was going into shock. But Jack knew he wasn't going into shock. He was scared. He wanted Jesse to come out alive. He still owed Jesse that favor, whatever it was. After all Jesse had done, he couldn't just disappear now. "I hope so," he muttered quietly under his breath.

* * * * *

Jesse tried to stop himself from breathing too hard. He didn't want Stoke to hear his breathing and find him too easily. He clutched the files tightly. He had no idea why he offered to do this. Maybe the adrenaline was still on high; maybe he would never know. All he did know was that he had put himself in a dangerous position. He was in a collapsed tunnel with a man and his gun chasing him. One shot would be easy. But Jesse knew the only reason he had managed to get away was that there were so many obstacles in the tunnel. Stoke kept on missing and hitting either a block or a car or the wall…never Jesse. Also, Stoke's pent up frustration had prevented him from taking careful aim. Jesse kept on hiding in the shadows and hiding.

But now he was knee high in water. The water from the other side was slowly trickling through past the cracks and gaps and filtering onto this side. Jesse was already wet from his plunge and the cold had now taken its toll. He was breathing raggedly from cold as well. His hands were shaking and he wished he had his jacket with him. He found it impossible to believe that a few moments ago, he thought it was so hot that he would pass out. Jesse peered out through the window of the car to where Stoke was prowling with his gun.

Jesse decided that now was the right time to go. What he also realized that the way to not get caught was not by wading through the water, but by swimming in it. Jesse abandoned the files he had been holding. They were useless anyway. A collection could be built up again. He left them floating in the water and carefully slid underneath the cold black water. Jesse had been swimming many times before. His experience in surfing and falling off the surfboard had enabled to swim well even in the fiercest currents despite his small frame. That was how he had made it to the lorry the time before. The water was just lying still in the part of the tunnel so it made it easy for him to swim. Softly, he propelled his way through the water, not a single splash coming from him. As far as his breath could hold, he swam until his oxygen ran out and he resurfaced again.

His greatest fear was that he would end up underneath a car and remained trapped. But he came up just in front of a car. He went under the water again to see if he could swim to the other side. Thankfully, he could and did so appearing out of the other side. But as he came up for breath again, he saw a pair of boots in front of him. He looked up in horror at Nigel Stokes face.

Jesse didn't have time to say anything before Nigel clubbed him and he fell back into the water. He couldn't regain his senses and swim away in time before Stoke lifted him up and had a good hold on him. "Where are those files, kid. I don't have much patience any more. I have been running from state to state and I'm not about to let you get away with it." He shook Jesse once again. "Tell me, boy, or else you're death with be far more unpleasant."

Jesse didn't say anything at first and then he felt Stoke push him under. He held Jesse down by his neck, forcing him underneath the water. Jesse, unprepared, didn't have a lot of breath so he thrashed under the water, begging to be let out. Finally Stoke lifted his hold and Jesse shot to the surface, spitting and coughing up water, trying to get a breath in at the same time. He shook his head to try and clear it as he had just begun to see black spots. He pointed in front of him. "Threw them away…in the water there." Stoke looked up towards the papers floating in the water, all the ink merging together making it totally unreadable. "What a shame you couldn't do exactly what Jack Stewart asked you to do. You couldn't keep those files safe. Now no one can pin all those transactions on me." He smiled and pushed Jesse forward again.

"Here is where to ends," Stoke informed, lifting up his gun. At a distance of four feet, he wasn't going to miss. "I will tell Jack Stewart that you bravely tried to do your best but failed. I hope his death falls on his conscience because I know it won't on mine." Jesse looked up towards the wall of the tunnel and closed his eyes. He couldn't believe this was happening to him all over again. Once again he was close to death. How many times could he get away with it?

"Drop it, Stoke!" someone shouted loudly. It only half registered through Jesse's tired brain. He couldn't manage it any more. Opening his eyes slightly he could see a woman and several policeman lined up around them. He prayed the guns weren't pointed at him but closed his eyes again but knew that Stoke's gun was still pointed at him. It was just a case of waiting for that bullet to hit him.

"I could shoot him right now," Stoke said.

Irene's eyes narrowed. "What's the point, Stoke? If you shoot him there are over ten of us that can shoot you and that will be more painful. Give it up. You're already in for attempted murder and fraud. You forgot that we still have Jack Stewart's testimony. And for your information, those aren't the real files. The real files are with Dr Stewart outside." Stoke turned his head slightly to face Irene but his gun was trained on the half conscious Jesse Travis in the water.

"Stop playing games with me."

"Do you think I would play games, sir?" Irene demanded harshly.

Stoke thought this over for a few minutes. His eyes glanced from Irene to Jesse. Then suddenly his hands clenched round the gun tighter and he let out an enraged cry. He lifted the gun up to Jesse and a shot rang out…silence drifted through the tunnel. Stoke landed headfirst into the water as the shot in the leg couldn't keep him balanced. The remains of smoke still drifted from Irene's gun. She narrowed her eyes sharply at the man then her expression softened. "Get Travis out of the water and outside. I suppose we'd better get a stretcher down here for Mr. Stoke himself."

She turned round on her heel and walked back outside accompanied by some of her policemen. Mark was waiting at the edge of the tunnel. He was making sure his son wouldn't go to near the entrance to hurt himself any more and was eagerly awaiting any news. They came out with Jesse and laid him on the ground where Pete and Mark instantly went over to him to check him over. Steve watched with Jack, who just had his arm re bandaged properly. "Is he all right?" Jack asked.

Mark turned round to look at him. "He's going to be fine. He's a bit bruised up, slightly cold therefore unconscious but he'll make it through fine. I think we'd better get him to Community General though in case he gets worse. And I think we should all get back." Pete nodded and stood up. From far off, he could see Ezra Michaels looking at him. His face clouded over at the side of the man whose face was expressionless. He turned round and headed towards the car.

Jack woke up. He could feel warmth around him. There were a few pleasant sounds…laughing, clattering to trays, talking and shouting. There were no horrible nightmare sounds. He didn't wake up to the sound of dripping water, silence of heavy blocks on top of him surrounding him in darkness. No, this time there was a bright light, people in front of him outside his cubicle and tables and chairs around him. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he could tell he was the only one in the room. On his bedside table were a bunch of cards and flowers. The room was small but just about enough for him. He sat up and looked around even more.

There was no one in his room and he felt comfortable in the bed. "Mark?" he called out as though he expected someone to appear quickly. Suddenly, the events poured back into his head about the tunnel, what had happened down there and the encounter with Stoke. "Jesse!" he cried loud enough to shake the walls of the hospital itself. He gripped the sheets in panic, remembering what had happened last.

The door burst open and Mark suddenly entered. "Jack, what's wrong, you sound as though someone just died."

Jack shook his head. "What about Jesse?"

Mark let lose a smile. "He was up half an hour ago back to his usual self and has already been annoying all the nurses. He has a nice colored bruise on his cheek to prove that he's been through it all." He couldn't help himself but laughed. "He's asleep now. I think all those episodes in the tunnel have taken its toll on both of you. I suggest you both get some sleep because you must both be tired." Jack nodded and settled down into the pillows again. He was about to say something but Mark interrupted him. "Before you can say it, I will let you see Jesse late _after _you have gotten some rest yourself." Jack's eyes closed before Mark had finished. He didn't know how tired he was until he actually fell asleep and didn't hear Mark leave the room

Mark shut the door quietly and headed down the corridor to Jesse's room, which was on the other side. He opened the door and found the younger man still asleep curled up on his side facing the window, only part of his tousled blond hair peaking out from the covers. Satisfied, Mark went back out and headed to the doctor's lounge. It was a long day and he himself was tired as well. Steve was back where he belonged, in bed as well where he should be resting after his gunshot wound. Coming into the lounge, several of the doctors and nurses were crowded round the television set. Amanda was given the couch to sleep on herself and Pete was by the table, the coffee cup in his hand and his face buried into his arm that rested on the table.

"_News reports say that the collapse of the tunnel has been put under control. Everyone who can been saved has as fighters have now made it down the whole of the tunnel. Even though there was a great loss of life, over three hundred people, they say that the majority who made it out of the tunnel alive have lived to tell the tale…"_

Mark decided to switch of there. The whole day had been too much for him. Slowly his eyes closed and he fell asleep the sound of the news report and the murmurs of the hospital staff fading into his ears. He was glad to finally shut off and give in to the whole days work. It had been stressful as it was. What with Steve getting shot and Jesse and Jack down in the tunnel, he was glad it had finally finished so he could get the rest he deserved. He felt as though he had done well today. With a finally look at Amanda stirring on the couch he disappeared into oblivion.

Amanda woke up just as Mark fell asleep. Deciding not to disturb any of them, she got up and headed out of the doctor's lounge and down the corridor, pausing briefly to check on Jesse before continuing to Jack's room. She found him there asleep.

He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. Standing in the doorway, she recalled the times she spent with Jack when he was here working at Community General. He was exactly like Jesse, attracted to women for miles and women seemed to be attracted to him. He was the youngest member of the group, eager to work but also slightly mischievous. She remembered the countless times that Jack had stood up to other guys, threatening them lightly if they ever hurt her. Sometimes he was right; other times he was a right idiot. "Oh, Jack, why did you have to leave?" she asked. "It's all different now. Not that I don't like, Jesse, he's more the playful younger brother…you've changed now. You're older and mature. Why did you leave?"

She sat down on the chair beside him. "You know, it's not exactly too later now. You could still come back…Norman would still want you to stay, I'm sure. He's always wanting more staff and he knows you. We all know you and we want you to stay here anyway." Amanda waited for an answer but wasn't getting one. Jack was still fast asleep. Amanda found herself getting annoyed, not with Jack's lack of response but the fact that he had left in the first place to go to Colorado. "Come on, Jack, we could start it over again. Let's face it, it's different now." Amanda gave up, knowing that she was talking to herself now. She started to turn round and go back out of the door, glancing back at the dark haired man who seemed undisturbed by her words.

Just as she was about to go, a groan sounded. "It wouldn't work, Amanda."

Amanda turned back into the room, surprised at the sudden outburst what. "I thought you were…man, I feel stupid now." She thought about what Jack had just said. "What do you mean, it wouldn't work. Of course it would. You're back at Community General; surely you could pass your clinic in Colorado to someone else. You must have had more fun here than you did there."

Jack shook his head. "I _know _I had more fun here but it's not possible now. I left and it was the biggest mistake of my life. It would have been different if Jesse hadn't come when I'd gone. But…I don't belong anymore. I left and that's it. I would be able to catch up." He lifted a hand and put it by Amanda's cheek. "I like Jesse, and he seems like a very nice person."

Amanda looked as though she was going to protest again. "Amanda, don't. It wouldn't work and I know it. I made a mistake in not returning as well but if I promise to come back, every now and again to see you."

Amanda nodded. "All right…all right. I still wish you could stay. Jesse likes you as well; I know it, especially after that incident in the tunnel. You'd still be around friends like Steve and…"

"Amanda, don't make it worse," Jack said, turning his head away. "I feel guilty enough as it is. Besides, I still have my—associates—from beforehand in LA. I don't want to get mixed up with that lot again. If I go to Colorado, Then I'm far away as I can possibly get."

Amanda sighed and then smiled. "All right, all right, I'll believe you," she answered. Then jokingly, she said, "I'll never forgive you, though." Jack laughed. "We'll miss you, thought, Jack. It was fun you coming back and us getting involved in something again. I just wish I could have thought about it before you left." Jack nodded, silently wishing, 'so do i.'

Jesse stretched his legs in the small chair at LA airport. Her had been sitting down for quite a while and the feeling in his legs was rapidly going. Finding that stretching for the hundredth time didn't work, he got up and decided to walk around the airport. "I told you, you should have done that before," Steve warned him. Jesse narrowed his eyes at him but stopped when the lines in his face made the stitch above his eye hurt. Steve got the message and laughed and carried on with his trip around the waiting room of the airport.

Jack put the newspaper down. "Guys, you didn't have to come with me. I'm capable of going on a plane by myself. I'm a big boy now."

Mark sighed. "Do you think as friends we're just going to send you in a cab with a goodbye."

"Yeah."

Steve laughed. "Forget it. We don't mind anyway. Hopefully, Norman won't even notice that you're gone." That was a complete lie of course. Jack's flight was at right in the morning, two days later. Now, three hours later, the flight was still later but Mark, Jesse, Steve and Amanda refused to leave until Jack was in the air, heading for Colorado.

"If you're worried about Stoke then don't worry," Jack said. "The police in Colorado called me today. They said they're sending Stoke back there so he'll be tried in Colorado. He should get a good sentence."

Amanda nodded. "I should have thought so too."

Mark looked around the airport. It was full of people who were waiting to go on the same flight as Jack; all were way behind schedule. He knew what was coming to him when he got back to the hospital. Norman was probably on the verge of calling search and rescue to go and find his missing doctors. He knew that when he returned, Norman would give them a grilling and then life would go on as usual. But Mark didn't want life to go on as usual. He wanted Jack to stay here too. Secretly, they all did. It wasn't the same without him anymore. The same kind of Jack still hitting on the nurses, trying to get a few dollars here and there and attracting everyone in sight with his Brooklyn accent was leaving yet again. He had a second chance and he was wasting it. Well…maybe not wasting it, Mark thought. Jack had done pretty well for himself in Colorado. It was right that he should finish. Mark thought he was just being selfish.

"What happens when you go back to Colorado?" Mark asked.

Jack smiled. "Carry on with things. Find a new pathologist for starters. I would have one by now if this whole Stoke thing hadn't dragged on, you know—not that I'm complaining," he added hastily.

Steve laughed and stood up to stretch. "How about you take Amanda with you. I'm sure you wouldn't mind."

Jack grinned cheekily. "Of course I wouldn't…great bonding over the dead bodies going on there, what do you say, Amanda?" 

Amanda gave Jack a sidelong glance. "Forget it. You want me, you come to Community General because I belong there. Besides, I don't _bond_ with Jesse across dead bodies."

"Jesse isn't a man like I am," Jack said and winked. He looked at Jesse who was half way across his trek round the waiting room. "I think I may go and talk to him, straighten a few things out before I leave." When they nodded, he got and walked across the room to Jesse, who had his hands in his pockets, occasionally glancing at the screen that gave the indication of which flight was late and which wasn't. Ever time he looked up Flight 752 to Colorado was still labeled 'late.' "Hey, Jesse," Jack called to him.

Jesse turned round a smiled. "Hey, come to join me on my walking adventure."

"I think I've had enough adventures to last me a lifetime," Jack remarked. "What happened back into that tunnel topped everything that I'd ever done with Mark." He looked firmly at Jesse. "And I haven't quite got round to thanking you for helping me in the tunnel."

Jesse waved it away. "Forget about it, I'm a Doctor."

"Yer, you were a doctor then, that's your job. But you didn't have to do that for me in the tunnel. I know you didn't like me and you could have easily just left me. But you still got me out from those rocks, bandaged my arm and pulled the wall away from the door to get me out. And furthermore, you even agreed to run right into Stoke's trap to let me get out. I don't know if rival enemies really do that to each other but I don't think that's the case with us anymore." He held out his hand towards the young doctor. "Thanks."

Jesse smiled and accepted it. "I should thank you too. I know that I've been a selfish, jealous kind of pig and I have no reason to snap back at you seeing as you did know Mark, Steve and Amanda. You're entitled to see them as well, 'cause you're their friend."

"You're their friend too, Jesse," Jack insisted. "You may not know it, but they do speak highly of you. And I know them. They know who to pick their friends with. I was lucky, just like you are now. They think you're a great doctor and a great friend and I can understand why. If you look out for them like you did to me, they'll look out for you. It's a friendship you don't want to lose."

Jesse nodded. "You got that right." But he still looked dejected.

Jack thought he understood immediately. "You don't think that friendship is enough, do you. You still want that kind of father son relationship between them that you never had with your father."

Jesse sat down on a nearest chair. "I know, I know, was I that obvious. I can't help it but I know not to push my luck. I'm being more than generous."

Jack nodded and sat down next to him. "I'm sure. Just remember that you can choose your friends but you can't choose your parents. They're you're surrogate family and that's as much as you can get."

The conversation was cut short when the speaker on the announcer finally announced flight 752 leaving for Colorado. Jesse and Jack got up and walked back to the group waiting for the where they exchanged their good-byes and watched Jack leave through the doors to board his flight. He only turned round once, gave a short wave and then left as the doors automatically closed and turned the corner and was out of sight. The four friends watched in silence until Mark gave a sigh.

"And that, as they say, is that," he commented, turning around. Amanda was still looking at the doors and recognized the expression on her face. "Don't worry, he'll be back again," he assured. "It's all different now when he returned this time. I think he understood what he left behind here. He had a small chance to get back close to it and he's taken that chance. I don't think hell want to risk losing it again by not having any contact." Steve and Jesse nodded in agreement as they both turned round to head out of the airport.

Amanda smiled at them. "You know that autopsy I was doing a few days ago," she said slowly. "Joan Cowell? Well…I did it again considering you were so upset about it and I found something interesting. You could be right, there may be another murder on our hands."

Mark, Steve and Jesse turned towards her, each having a mischievous grin, which they shared with her.

And that finishes that. Unfortunately—I'm leaving for a holiday on Sunday so I won't be posting anything for another two weeks. (Shock cries from the crowd g )

But rest assured, I will be writing madly many more Diagnosis Murder stories ready to put up when I get back. Please Read and Review-------Halina


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